Rhode Island to Fire High School's Entire Staff

Every single staff member at Central Falls High School in Rhode Island will be getting a termination notice, the district’s superintendent announced this weekend, ending a tense standoff with the teacher’s union. The teachers had refused to go along with superintendent Frances Gallo’s plan to reform the school, complaining that it called for them to work more without enough extra pay, the Providence Journal reports.

The school has some of the lowest graduation rates and test scores in the state, yet most of its teachers are at the district’s top pay level, making an average $72,000 to $78,000 a year. Gallo’s plan would have extended the school day by 25 minutes, provided extra tutoring for students, and required teachers to undergo extra training. They’d have been paid for the training, but not the elongated school day. Under the "turnaround model" created by the state education commissioner, no more than 50% of the staff can be hired back. (More teachers unions stories.)