Teachers Are Asked To Reapply At 6 Boston Schools

More than 100 teachers and staff members at six schools will have to fight to keep their jobs, the city announced Thursday.

Hours after the state identified 12 Boston schools as "underperforming," the principals of five of those schools were fired. All staff members at six of those schools will have to reapply for their jobs.

"These teachers are not fired, but all of the teachers in these schools — in fact, all of the staff in these schools — are being asked to reapply for their jobs," said Carol Johnson, the city's superintendent of schools. "We are going to do very different work in these schools than we have in the past."

Johnson said the troubled schools need significant work, so they need a committed staff. She said the state's new education reform law gives her the tools to make improvements. A similar move at a school in Central Falls, R.I., has sparked national controversy.

Staff members will need to reapply for jobs at the following schools:

Johnson said she expects many teachers who reapply will not be rehired, but they will find other jobs in the district.

Many of the underperforming schools will have new principals in place by September.

WBUR's Monica Brady-Myerov and WBUR's Steve Brown, in Dorchester, contributed.

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