Gist: No guarantees for fired teachers

EAST PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) - Rhode Island's education chief says there is no way that 100% of the faculty at Central Falls High School will be back on the job next year.

The entire faculty at Central Falls High was fired last week, after failing to agree on an education reform model at the troubled school.  But since then, the union and the superintendent have agreed to resume talks about a turnaround model that would prevent the mass teacher firings.

On a taping of Newsmakers, however, Education Commissioner Deborah Gist said she would not approve any reform plan that would guarantee all the teachers to keep their jobs.

"Everyone will not be retained," Gist told Eyewitness News on Friday, saying that reports of agreement  that would allow the entire faculty to be retained, are greatly exaggerated.

"[Central Falls Superintendent Frances Gallo] said she was open to considering whether or not during the planning process that they might be able to get back to the "transformation model," which would mean that a greater than fifty percent of the folks might be able to come back," explained Gist.

"But even in the "transformation model," every person there has to be rigorously evaluated, and an explicit decision has to be made about whether they come back or not."