The wildfire of national debate over the mass firings at Central Falls High School spread further Tuesday, when the executive council of the AFL-CIO unanimously condemned the removal of all 93 teachers, support staff and administrators at the city’s only high school.

The executive council said its members were “appalled” that President Obama and U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan had endorsed the terminations in recent comments, and said the firings will not help the 800 students at the high school, which is one of the poorest and lowest-performing schools in Rhode Island.

“We stand in support of the Central Falls Teachers Union in its fight to improve teaching and learning … preserve the rights of its members and keep the teachers where they belong,” the council said in a statement. “We call on the Central Falls administration to return to negotiations … and seek, in good faith, a collaborative path to proven reforms that provide students with the opportunity to succeed.”

A few hours later, Central Falls Teachers Union president Jane Sessums offered an alternative reform plan for the troubled school, which closely resembled a set of conditions proposed by Supt. Frances Gallo that the two sides failed to agree on during negotiations last month. Money was the main sticking point.

Tuesday, Sessums said the high school teachers would agree to a longer school day for students; providing more support for students; and submitting to rigorous evaluations — three conditions in Gallo’s proposal. She also said the teachers want a “research-based high school reform program” they believe will achieve good results.

“This proposal is a start, and we know that more can and should be done,” Sessums said. “We are ready to collaborate with the district and work toward changes that will ultimately give our students the education they deserve.”

Gallo said she had not been contacted by the union and was learning of the proposal for the first time Tuesday evening. “I have no comment at this time,” she said.

On Monday, the union filed three unfair labor practice charges against the school district, the union’s first move to appeal the mass firings.

Marcia Reback, president of the Rhode Island Federation of Teachers, which represents the Central Falls teachers, said the local union filed three charges against the district: failure to negotiate; refusal to provide information to the union and terminations in retaliation for the teachers’ union activities.

“The primary reason [for the filings] is that we want to secure the jobs of the Central Falls teachers themselves,” Reback said. “But we also know this situation is a national situation. If what happened in Central Falls is upheld, it will set a precedent across the United States.”

If the seven-member State Labor Relations Board decides that the complaint has merit, it will schedule a hearing.

The complaint, submitted by labor lawyer Marc Gursky, says the Central Falls district is attempting to bust the union.

“On or about Feb. 18, 2010, every teacher at Central Falls High School received notice that he or she will be terminated from their employment as a teacher at the end of the 2009-2010 school year,” according to the one-page document. “On or about Feb. 23, said teachers received notice that the Board of Trustees voted to terminate their employment … Said termination is in retaliation for the teachers’ exercise of their rights and was made to discourage membership in a labor organization.”

Reback said the teachers union also intends to appeal the firings to the school Board of Trustees. The board’s next meeting is March 9.

Under state Education Commissioner Deborah A. Gist, Rhode Island has moved aggressively on a new federal mandate that requires states applying for “school improvement grants” to publicly identify their five percent persistently lowest-performing schools and take one of four actions meant to improve student learning: school closure; takeover by a charter or school-management organization; “transformation,” which includes a longer school day and other significant changes; or “turnaround,” which requires the removal of the entire teaching staff, from the principal to the school librarian, with no more than 50 percent rehired for the fall.

On Jan. 11, Gist became one of the first state education chiefs — if not the first — to list schools slated for such intervention: Central Falls High School and five schools in Providence.

Gallo and the teachers union initially agreed to transformation. But the two sides could not agree on what transformation entailed. Gallo wanted the teachers to agree to a set of conditions she said were essential to improve the high school, including requiring the teachers to spend more time with students in and out of the classroom and with other teachers in training sessions after school. Gallo said she offered to pay the teachers the “professional development rate” of $30 per hour for some of the additional duties, but said she could not afford to pay for all of the extra work. Reback said the union leadership pushed for the district to pay for more of the duties and at a higher “per diem” rate of $90 per hour, since the teachers were being compelled to work more hours.

When talks broke down, Gallo recommended her second choice to Gist: turnaround, which requires the entire teaching staff be terminated. According to this model, just 50 percent of the teachers can be rehired for the 2010-2011 school year. Last week, the Board of Trustees and Gist both approved Gallo’s recommendation and fired the entire faculty at the high school.

With reports from Linda Borg

jjordan@projo.com