In education news, President Obama has voiced support for the mass firings of every teacher at a public high school in Rhode Island. Last week, all ninety-three teachers and school personnel at Central Falls High School were told they were being fired at the end of the school year because of the school’s low achievement scores and low graduation rates. Last week, Education Secretary Arne Duncan applauded the move, saying school committee members were “showing courage and doing the right thing for kids.” On Monday, President Obama added his support for the mass firings.

President Obama: “So, if a school is struggling, we have to work with the principal and the teachers to find a solution. We’ve got to give them a chance to make meaningful improvements. But if a school continues to fail its students year after year after year, if it doesn’t show signs of improvement, then there’s got to be a sense of accountability. And that’s what happened in Rhode Island last week at a chronically troubled school, when just seven percent of eleventh graders passed state math tests. Seven percent. When a school board wasn’t able to deliver change by other means, they voted to lay off the faculty and the staff.”

President Obama’s comment during a speech promoting School Turnaround Grants for low-performing schools. The President encouraged school districts to fire teachers at poorly performing schools, open more charter schools, and close some schools outright. The president of the American Federation of Teachers, Randi Weingarten, responded to the President’s speech by saying, “We know it is tempting for people in Washington to score political points by scapegoating teachers, but it does nothing to give our students and teachers the tools they need to succeed.”