Notice how easy it is to scrap contracts when it’s teachers, yet on Wall Street the thought never crossed anyone’s mind. Sure Wall Street cost the country a trillion or so, but who’s counting? Strange priorities these days and very odd examples of accountability. Teachers working in the toughest conditions are scapegoated yet the most pampered bunch in America gets the royal treatment for problems they created. If only the teachers had caused the social conditions and poverty in their environment and then dragged the economy into a recession, they would have received fat bonuses. Sure, that sounds fair.

When all the teachers were fired from Central Falls High School last week in a sweeping effort at school reform, their superintendent gave them a taste of the accountability President Barack Obama says is necessary.

It is a strategy that has been used elsewhere, such as in Chicago and Los Angeles. But while there have been some improvements in test scores, schools where most teachers have been replaced still grapple with problems of poverty and discipline. Even advocates of the approach say firing a teaching staff is just one of several crucial steps that must be taken to turn around a school.