Is Firing Teachers the Answer?

By Paul Kelleher

Central Falls, R.I., where an entire high school teaching staff was recently fired, is the latest example of a growing trend: no-nonsense superintendents attempting to improve their schools by firing teachers perceived to be incompetent to secure a bigger share of federal education dollars. But this “cleaning house” approach, encouraged and supported by the Obama administration, betrays a lack of appreciation for the value of teacher experience, a myopic view of accountability, and a flawed understanding of how substantive change...