Central Falls, R. I. grads rally for their school and fired teachers.

Central Falls, Rhode Island (CNN) -- Graduates of the nation's most vilified high school descended upon campus Tuesday evening to support the school's fired teachers. They also had a message for President Obama: Don't bash our school.

"He doesn't know us. He doesn't know the teachers. He doesn't know the students," said Nikko Calle, 21, a graduate of Central Falls High School in 2006. "I think it's a real outrage what's happening here."

Nearby, Ashley Delgado, 19, stood on the school's steps clutching a sign that read: "Dear Obama, I supported you, your causes, goals and beliefs. Why aren't you supporting mine?"

A firestorm has erupted in this Democratic stronghold in recent weeks after 93 teachers, support staff and administrators at Central Falls High School were fired for the low performance of the school, which graduated just 48 percent of its seniors last year. The firings will go into effect at the end of the school year. Teachers can re-apply, but no more than 50 percent will get rehired.

School Supt. Frances Gallo has invited the city’s teacher union president Jane Sessums to a planning meeting at 10 a.m. at the University of Rhode Island’s Providence campus to discuss ways to dramatically improve the 800-student school — the first time the two leaders have met since the mass firings of the entire faculty at Central Falls High School on Feb. 23.

Also invited to the “stakeholder” meeting are more than 35 interested parties Gallo has been meeting with for months, including: officials from the state Department of Education and URI; Anna Cano-Morales, chairwoman of the Central Falls School Board of Trustees; several Central Falls teachers; and representatives from other colleges, charter schools and community and nonprofit organizations.

The public has been shut out, despite Education Commissioner Deborah A. Gist’s position that public input and participation are a vital element in figuring out how best to improve the state’s lowest-performing schools and that support by the wider community is essential to succeed.

In a brief statement, Gallo declined to state her reason for making the meeting private, but said the group will set goals and deadlines. Gist has given the district until Aug. 13 to complete their plan, but Gallo has said she wants most of the plan in place by the end of the current school year.

President Obama thought it was wonderful that every educator at Central Falls High School was fired. At an appearance before the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on March 1, the President applauded the idea of closing the school and getting rid of everyone in it. At the same meeting, President Obama acknowledged Margaret Spellings, who was President George W. Bush's Education Secretary, because she "helped to lead a lot of the improvement that's been taking place and we're building on."

Well, yes, the President is right; his own education reform plans are built right on top of the shaky foundation of President Bush's No Child Left Behind program. The fundamental principle of school reform, in the Age of Bush and Obama, is measure and punish. If students don't get high enough scores, then someone must be punished! If the graduation rate hovers around 50%, then someone must be punished. This is known as "accountability."

CENTRAL FALLS, R.I. (AP) - A meeting where school administrators in Central Falls were supposed to discuss the mass firing of its teachers has been canceled.

Central Falls Superintendent Frances Gallo said Tuesday that the meeting could not be held in the high school auditorium because it did not meet legal standards for being handicapped-accessible.

In a notice posted on the school door, Gallo said she apologized for the cancellation but did not say when the meeting would be rescheduled.

Students and alumni planned Tuesday to hold a silent protest in support of the fired teachers.