As you might imagine, I'm a little less on the Fran Gallo bandwagon than I was last July. It is more than a little jarring to read the optimistic article from last January announcing Central Falls' new academy system, which stood out to me in contrast to Providence's current direction.
And you know what, they should have been optimistic, because their test scores took their second (at least) double digit jump in a row this year. By my count they're outperforming eight Providence high schools on the NECAP.
Then Race to the Top hit...
The one time I remember having a meeting with Fran Gallo, it was the opposite of this Central Falls teacher's experience:
But he was pretty sure early on in the tenure of Supt. Frances Gallo that these would not be good times for teachers in Central Falls. Familiarity would not count for as much as it used to.
McLaughlin says that in an early meeting with Gallo, he referred to the history of events in Central Falls, and Gallo cut him off to say, “History is dead.”
“I got a chill up my spine. It was just a few months after she’d been appointed superintendent.”
That is, when I met with her in Providence, she heard what I had to say because she already knew the history behind what we were discussing. Heck, I'm sure she knew it better than I did.
I don't think Fran Gallo did the right thing in Central Falls, but I'm not sure what the right thing would have been. Resigning in protest?
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