PAWTUCKET, R.I., Feb. 24 (UPI) -- A Rhode Island school district has voted to fire all 88 teachers of an underperforming local high school at the end of the current school year, officials said.
Under a federal "turnaround model," all will have evaluations, but only 50 percent will be allowed to be rehired for the next school year at Central Falls High School, The Pawtucket Times reported Wednesday.
School Superintendent Francis Gallo said the action was necessary after the teachers' union rejected a less-punitive "transformational" model and its conditions, which include a longer school day, mandatory student tutoring and third-party teacher evaluations, the Times said.
The union had "attempted to squeeze more money" from a district that is already in a budget squeeze, Gallo said. "This time, the union leadership went too far. This state-run district can afford no more," she stated.
State Education Commissioner Deborah Gist approved Gallo's recommendation of the "turnaround" model for the school, which has a 52 percent graduation rate, the Times reported.
