RI district fires all educators at underperforming high school; US DOE applauds decision

All educators fired at underperforming RI school

CENTRAL FALLS, R.I. — A Rhode Island school district has voted to fire all the teachers at an underperforming school.

The Central Falls School Committee voted Tuesday evening to fire every educator at Central Falls High School at the end of the school year.

It’s the only school in the tiny, impoverished city north of Providence. Only about half its students graduate, and only 7 percent of 11th-graders were proficient in math in 2009.

The plan was developed because of a federal effort to makeover failing schools.

The Central Falls Teachers Union says it is reviewing legal options and hasn’t decided what action to take.

Education Secretary Arne Duncan applauds the decision and says “when schools continue to struggle we have a collective obligation to take action.”

Information from: The Providence Journal, www.projo.com/