Officials of a Rhode Island school district where all the high school teachers have been fired say there is no need for judges in the state to recuse themselves from a pending federal lawsuit.
The Central Falls Teachers’ Union challenged the firings in federal court last month.
The union asked for federal magistrates and judges in Rhode Island to recuse themselves from hearing the case because a translator for the court system is also a member of the Central Falls school board. The school district said in court papers filed last week that situation did not pose sufficient reason for the state’s federal judges to remove themselves from the case.
If the recusal request is granted, the case would be transferred to a federal court in another state.
The teachers were fired in February as part of a reform effort at one of the states lowest-performing schools.
