Public education is a service that has become so commonplace that people have begun to take advantage of it. These people seem to forget that without it, students, who will one day replace this generation, will be unable to grow and function in normal society.

With this in mind, education should be considered important and held at a high standard. This is, however, not always the case. 

At Central Falls High School in Rhode Island, the students were performing at a less than satisfactory level. According to the New York Times report on the situation, a mere 7 percent of students were proficient in math and the school had a graduation rate of only 48 percent. In anyone’s mind, these are simply unacceptable figures. These high school students are the future of our country. The purpose of education is to educate them so that they can handle that responsibility.

Naturally, educator’s first impulse should be to attempt to correct these figures. However, after a plan to change these numbers was proposed, it was refused by the teacher’s union.

Making claims about the difficulty they have teaching students and the amount of time they put in already for their students, their arguments are, indeed, valid. At the same time, however, their job, as teachers, remains to educate these students and allow them to leave their school with a satisfactory level of knowledge. This much the students deserve.

As a result of their refusal of the plan, 93 faculty and staff members will be let go from Central Falls. This bold and controversial decision, applauded by many including Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, was completely necessary. If teachers refuse to work toward fixing such atrocious figures as a 48 percent graduation rate, then they have decided their fate.

Yes, economically speaking times are tough, but does that mean that this generation should sacrifice the sake of future ones? 

Theoretically, all of the teachers could have maintained their jobs. They could have simply agreed to the proposal and kept their jobs. However, due to their own lack of commitment, they denied the proposal. These words may seem harsh, but the fact of the matter is that these teachers do not simply work for the school district.

The teachers agreed, when they accepted their position, to educate their students to what is at least a satisfactory level. They, in theory, had this opportunity and now they, as teachers, owe this to their own students.

In light of this, I fully support the decision to let the teachers go and to move forward with the new attempt to educate these kids. They are, after all, the future and their education will help them to attain that future.