Bellicose Bumpkin

Something I’ve been meaning to write about – a Rhode Island high school that is threatening to fire every teacher in an under-performing school. The superintendent wanted longer school days and the teacher’s union refused without financial incentives. The school board voted 5-2 to fire the entire staff at the end of the school year. Teachers have offered a counterproposal and talks will resume.
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This NYT article from 10 days ago offers some perspective to go along with the more recent Globe article.
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There’s something appealing about a nuclear option like this when conditions warrant a reboot of a failing system. I’d expect to see more actions like this with other public employee unions as local budget shortfalls continue to collide with the costs of supplying raises and generous benefits to government employees.