All Teachers Fired from Rhode Island School District

Education is something I take very seriously. I have a family full of educators ... cousins, aunts and even my sister have all dedicated their lives to teaching. I love learning, and I think that as Americans we fail when it comes to education - both kids and adults.

I'm very critical of what politicians are doing to fix the failing system we call education. It's usually the first to lose funding, the first to see cutbacks and the last to get the help they truly deserve. I think what really aggravates me is that people who have never been in a classroom, people who have never seen first hand the struggles teachers deal with on a day-to-day basis, are the ones making the decisions.

I'm all for trying new things, and one school district in Rhode Island is hoping their dramatic decision works. The Central Falls school board voted 5-2 to fire all teachers in the district effective for the next school year. The firings have captured a lot of attention, as you can imagine.

I'm not sure if this was the right decision ... I'm not even sure it will work. But the statistics in the school district is very similar to East Baton Rouge Parish. It's a district of mostly minorities, half the students are failing every subject and most students come from poor families.

I'll be the first to say that not every teacher is "in it for the kids" (as my sister would say). Sometimes I think teachers should have to reapply for their job, even if that means losing teachers with many years of experience. Teachers should never stop learning, they should never stop researching new methods of teaching because in the end it's all about the kids.

It'll be interesting to see if this so-called turnaround method works for Central Falls. I'll be following their success and failure to see if something as dramatic as firing all teachers and starting over could work elsewhere (though it could take years to see if it works). Because after seeing this story and researching the background, I can see where it could work.

The debate on public education should never fade away. President Obama talks a lot about change and reform. An education reform is past due. It's time to shake things up and finally fix what we all know is broken.