The president of the National Education Association says, there's little teachers or parents can do in the wake of a recent decision to fire the entire 200 member staff of a low-performing school.

Dennis van Roekel believes the mass firing last week at Beach High School was against the law because it violated a system of evaluating teachers individually.

"We believe that they need to follow the law of the land, of the state, with due process," van Roekel says.

But, he's not inclined to go to court on the matter, either.

"I would much rather see them come to the table and say, 'It's up to us, the adults in this system, to devise a plan to make it right for students,'" van Roekel says. "That's much better than having to go through the court system to force them to do what's right."

In fact, local officials say, they had little choice.

Officials under federal law threatened to yank significant funding if major changes weren't made.

Thomas Lockamy, the local schools superintendent, says, Beach High has made progress.

"Over the past three years, Beach High School students have increased their average mathematics scores on the Scholastic Aptitude Test by 6 points," Lockamy said in a prepared statement last week. "There are many outstanding educators and support personnel currently on staff at Beach High."

Teachers there remain hopeful of finding jobs elsewhere in the system.

Van Roekel says, now is the time to talk to teachers across the nation about how to avoid mass firings.

"We're going to work with anyone and everyone who'll sit down with us to say, let's focus on the students."

Dennis van Roekel made his comments in a media blitz following the mass firings last week at Beach High School and schools in Rhode Island and North Carolina.