The Education Wars: Central Falls, Rhode Island, Firings

The firings of the Central Falls, Rhode Island, high school teachers isn't sad or desperate; what it is is illegal and it is union busting ala Ronald Reagan and PATCO in 1981. People thought that was a good thing.

It's at least as bad as that because the kids are victims here of idiotic politics peddled by Frances Gallo and her buddy Arne Duncan.

I do have to say though it is unusual for the Washington Post to have anything critical of a school administrator. Well, this is Rhode Island and not D.C.

There is no evidence that wholesale changes at schools make a difference at schools, though it has been tried repeatedly in districts around the country -- even in Duncan's Chicago public schools, which he ran for years before leading the Education Department.

Duncan tried a lot of things during his more than seven years as Chicago schools chief: shutting down schools, hiring experts in turning around schools and firing a lot of people. The results? To put it nicely, there was no Chicago miracle. Some schools improved, others didn't.

That's because grand gestures don't work to improve schools. It would be nice if they did, but time and time again, we've learned they don't. Making schools work is a very difficult job. There is no one thing to blame; there is no single remedy that works for every school or district.

That's because teachers have absolutely no control over the outside factors leading to "poor" academic performance. They aren't miracle workers.