R.I. School Poised to Fire All 88 Teachers - CBS News

R.I. School Poised to Fire All 88 Teachers - CBS News
(CBS/ AP)  Rhode Island Education Commissioner Deborah Gist has approved a school district's plan to fire all its teachers.

All 88 teachers at Central Falls High School are expected to receive their pink slips on Tuesday, reports CBS affiliate WPRI in Providence.

Central Falls, Rhode Island has long been among the state's most troubled school districts - 90 percent of the students live in poverty, reports CBS News correspondent Jim Axelrod. Many struggle with English in this immigrant community - and that's just for starters.

"We lose 52 percent of our students between 9th grade and the 12th grade," Gallo told Axelrod. "They don't graduate." 


Central Falls Superintendent Fran Gallo has proposed laying off all teachers at the school as part of a "turnaround" model for the school. That high school and five other schools in Providence have been identified by the state as chronically low-performing and must make major changes to avoid being closed.

The turnaround model requires a new principal and governance structure and allows no more than half the teachers to be rehired.

Gist on Tuesday said she had accepted Gallo's proposal. The superintendent has 120 business days to submit to Gist her proposal for overhauling the school.