88 teachers that failed the system.

Talk about no child left behind. The local school board in the Rhode Island town of Central Falls voted to relieve some 88-93 teachers and guidance counselors of their duties at the local high school. Employees will be forced out of the school at the end of the school year. The decision was upheld by the Superintendent of Central Falls Public Schools System.

The intense reformation comes after failed attempts to revive the educational quality at the school. CFHS graduates under 50% of the population. A guidance counselor at the school believes that the low graduation rate is due to the transient population. He and his wive have worked at the school and witnessed several transfers in and out of the school.

Many proponents of the termination cite the high salary of teachers and counselors alike. The average salary of a CFHS teacher hovers around 70k/year which is well above the national average. The defense for the high salaries is that the teachers are required to tutor students outside of school hours among other duties, not typically offered at most schools across the country.

From the outside looking in, I completely support the decision made by the school board and enforced by the superintendent. All too often, teachers simply give up because they are forced to do more than what they are hired to do--teach. Often times teachers, especially in troubled communities have to discipline disruptive students. But all too often the students eager to learn aren't even getting the most basic of information to pass state mandated STANDARDIZED tests.

I do however empathize with the teachers, staff, and principals that are now out of a job; especially in this dim economic climate. They are out of work and still have to eat, have a place to call home, and perform the basic functions of life.

I don't understand how the numbers could indicate such poor performance when the job should attract the best and the brightest teachers from all over the country. The median income for public school teachers doesn't border 70k, EVEN after 20 years of experience. That alone should attract teachers from all over the country, in addition to other benefits. It seems like this is a classic case of a failed education system.

Where do they go from here though? Will this mean really translate to higher performance standards? Will this really translate to better educational quality for the students? What will happen to these kids who are now the subject of an educational experiment? There are so many unanswered questions that the school board and the district will have to address, sooner rather than later. They have all summer to construct a system that they deem adequate.

I'm pretty sure that everyone (well drivers anyway) are aware of our addiction to oil (especially foreign oil). Who am I to tell someone what to do? Instead of shoving buy electric campaigns down your throat, just get a load of this. Nissan is slated to release the world's first affordable 100% electric, emission free mid-size vehicle. The environmentally friendly lean mean electric machine on wheels is called the Leaf. Unfortunately (for some anyway) the car will be arriving sometime this year (2010) in only 5/50 United States. These lucky 5 are California, Oregon, Tennessee, Arizona, and Washington.

There are definitely some perks to purchasing the car, aside from not spending money at the gas station. The United States government currently offers 7500 tax credit to those who own an electric car. Another added benefit is that there are typically no oil changes with electric cars. So if you're like me, saving about 30 bucks at the mechanic about every 3 months sounds nearly too good to be true. To fuel the Leaf it takes about 4 dollars at a commercial electric fueling station. Most Americans spend roughly 40 bucks at a time at the gas station. Just think about the savings there. My only concern with the Leaf, and other electric cars is about how much will it be to replace the battery. With hybrid vehicles such as the Toyota Prius, the replacement of the hybrid battery can run you well into the thousands. However, Nissan says this will be an affordable electric vehicle. By affordable to they mean the cost of ownership or the purchase price? Another concern I have about the Leaf is the size. It seems as if it would appeal to a European market more because it is hatchback, and "small" by American standards. It will be difficult for Americans to ween themselves off their gas guzzling SUVs.

Unfortunately, I still have some unanswered questions about the Leaf. I am EXTREMELY excited about a world famous automaker like Nissan initiating the going-green campaign, why couldn't it have been VW though, I just can't imagine life without my VW New Beetle.