Indiana Education Reform: Community Conversation

Calling All Parents, Guardians, Community Stakeholders

“New Indiana Education Laws and our Children”

                             Tuesday, October 23, 2012, 6:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.

Light of the World Christian Church, 4646 N. Michigan Road, Indianapolis, IN

Join Us in Discussing How New Laws Affect Our Children’s Education

Special Guest Panelists:  Representative Greg Porter, City County Councilman Leroy Robinson, Washington Township Teacher Glenda Ritz,Ed Power CEO Marcus Robinson, Indianapolis Deputy Mayor Jason Kloth, and Attorney Brenda A. Roper, National Council of Negro Women

Be informed about how several of the following laws impact our children:

-Teacher Evaluation and Performance System

-School Accountability-New Federal Waiver of NCLB

-Growth Model                       -Charter School Expansion

-Discipline                               -Turnaround Schools

-Vouchers                                -Minority Teacher Recruitment

“We can’t ADVOCATE, if we don’t KNOW.”

Co-Sponsored by the Greater Indianapolis National Association of the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the Indianapolis Alliance of Black School Educators (IABSE), National Council of Negro Women (NCNW), and the Indianapolis Chapter of the National Coalition of 100 Black Women (NCBW)

Grading Education Reform

....an interesting presentation of some of the faulty logic in contemporary school reform.  Something similar was suggested when the IDOE decided to get in the business of mandated the curriculum of Schools of Education--would it even be thinkable to imagine that the state would do this for the School of Medicine?  Thoughts?

My View: Instead of slogans, try this to improve schools

Written by Steve Fox

For their efforts in school reform, I would like to award a grade of F to: Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Arne Duncan, all members of Congress who have voted for No Child Left Behind
legislation, all state governors and legislators who have supported standardized testing, accountability and choice as the answers to education problems, and all state superintendents of public instruction who have supported those simplistic answers.

That grade should result, at the minimum, in lowered pay for these policymakers, possibly reassignment to new jobs or, in some cases, dismissal. If any are already retired or have been fired by the voters, then we can require them to do public service, assisting teachers in their overcrowded, underfunded classrooms.

I apologize for any hurt feelings or damaged careers that result from my rigorous grading. However, we must put students at the center and not worry about the concerns of adults.

Now let's move on to some meaningful school reform.
Students are people, not widgets. We cannot evaluate student learning the way we might evaluate production on an assembly line. Try this interesting analogy. Give all the doctors in Indianapolis 180
patients each. These doctors have one year to work with these patients and improve their health. By the end of the year, we would ideally like to see 100 percent of those patients with passing scores on all
their medical tests. And we would like the doctors to spend at least 25 percent of their time with each patient doing repeated tests. Also, these doctors must follow medical and health procedures designed by policymakers who have no medical training. These doctors should not belong to the American Medical Association, because we all know the AMA is a selfish organization that cares only about defending bad doctors. Also, we are not interested in the patients' overall health, or any squishy talk about holistic medicine or mind-body connections or social conditions that affect health.

Just deliver the results, please.

Getting the Data Right--Progress in Indiana

Here, Here!  No one we know supports the status quo....but accurate reporting and resisting political spin has to insisted upon.

Data tell story of progress in our public schools


Written by John Ellis

Gov. Mitch Daniels, in his Nov. 7 opinion piece ("Student-centered learning should be our top focus") regarding education in Indiana, stated: "Only the most selfish special interests still insist on defending the status quo." No argument there. Our students deserve the best, and we know all schools are not as good as all of our students deserve.

I commend the governor for his support to require highly effective teachers for all of our children and improved accountability for all schools. Those are big issues and worthy of our time, debate and efforts to make significant improvements. However, we won't get there by ignoring Indiana's educational successes.  The governor stated: "Indiana has led the nation in many areas lately . . . but we can make no such claim about K-12 education."

Indiana's public schools have improved in several important measures over the past two decades, according to data from the Indiana Department of Education, the College Board, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) and ACT Inc. It is a risk, when speaking to facts, that one is likely to be labeled as a defender of the status quo. But facts are not controlled by opinion.


On the NAEP, the "national reading and math test," Indiana has consistently outperformed the nation on all 35 assessments since 1990. Indiana's composite score on the ACT rose to 22.2 in 2008-09, the highest mark in state history. Indiana ACT scores have exceeded national averages in all 20 years of the study.

Verbal SAT scores rose from 490 in 1988-89 to an historic high of 504 in 2004-05. Since then, a revised SAT shows reading and writing scores separately. Reading has fallen to 496 in 2008-09, down from 498 in 2005-06. Writing has fallen to 480 in 2008-09, down from 486 in 2005-06. These scores came while Indiana tested 63 percent of all graduates, 17 percent more than the nation as a whole, thus giving more marginal students a chance at college. SAT math scores on the old SAT went up from 487 in 1988-89 to 508 in 2004-05, another top performance in state history. In the four years of the revised SAT, Indiana scored 509, 507, 508 and 507 respectively, maintaining a high performance level on a more difficult test.

The dropout rate was 8.7 percent for the Class of 2009, improving from 10.3 percent, 11.9 percent and 11.2 percent in three previous years of the new system that tracks every student. Hoosier public schools have successfully raised daily attendance in 15 of the past 20 years to the highest level in our state history. In the four years of the revised SAT, Indiana scored 509, 507, 508 and 507 respectively, maintaining a high performance level on a more difficult test.

The dropout rate was 8.7 percent for the Class of 2009, improving from 10.3 percent, 11.9 percent and 11.2 percent in three previous years of the new system that tracks every student. Hoosier public schools have successfully raised daily attendance in 15 of the past 20 years to the highest level in our state's history, 96.1 percent. The percent of graduates aspiring to go to college went up 19 of the 20 years to reach 76.9 percent in 2008-09, the highest level in state history. The need for this improvement has had consistently strong support from the governor.

The data show improvement in Indiana's public schools. Let's build from there, knowing that continuous improvement is never concluded, but ongoing, and needs to be consistently and accurately measured and reported.


Ellis is executive director of the Indiana Association of Public School Superintendents.

Thoughful Moderator in Education Reform

An editorial from the Indy Star unusually offers a bit of a voice of reason in the fervor to "reform" Indiana's schools.  Good cautions here but if you've been following the Daniels/Bennett agenda, "a thoughtful moderator" doesn't seem likely.
Thoughts?

Strike balance in push to better educate children- Indy Star

Gov. Mitch Daniels and the Indiana General Assembly need to move quickly but also thoughtfully to overhaul Indiana's educational system.  Last week's election results gave the governor and his Republican allies in the Statehouse a clear path to pursue reforms they've long desired, including merit pay for teachers, less rigidity in union work rules, and more freedom to open charter schools.

Much of Daniels' agenda makes sense, at least on paper.  But the governor, state Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Bennett and legislative leaders still need to show how ideas such as bonus pay for top-performing teachers will work in real-life schools.

And although the push to provide parents with additional options for educating their children is certainly welcome, the track record for charter schools is mixed. Some charters, like some traditional schools, are outstanding [19%, that's one in five people]. Others are mediocre at best. [and some are criminally negligent]

Teachers unions in Indiana have long brandished too much power in the General Assembly. Year after year, they've persuaded allies such as outgoing House Speaker Pat Bauer to kill good ideas and to promote measures that favor adults' interests over children's. Curtailing the unions' power is long overdue.

Yet, a balance must be struck. Veteran teachers need enough job security to ensure that they're not driven from classrooms because of the failure of others, including administrators and parents. Accountability is a vital concept, but it's critical that results are measured accurately and rewards and demerits are meted out fairly.

On Tuesday, the governor and the state superintendent were given a clear opportunity to move aggressively. They can't waste it.  But every reform-minded leader needs someone who is able to moderate excesses and promote accountability.

With Democrats reduced to the point of irrelevancy in the Statehouse, and deservedly so because of their absolute refusal to confront Indiana's educational problems, others must emerge to vet ideas driven by Daniels and Bennett.

It wouldn't be disloyal but prudent for Republican leaders such as likely House Education Committee Chairman Robert Behning and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Luke Kenley to take the lead on ensuring that reform measures aren't rushed through the legislative process.

Educators in the state's public and private universities also can help evaluate the flood of new proposals, including one that would provide financial incentives for some students to skip their senior year of high school to start college early.

Is the status quo acceptable in Indiana's schools? Absolutely not. But not every reform idea has merit.

Daniels and Bennett clearly understand the task ahead of them. They will be aggressive agents of change on behalf of the state's children. The key job of thoughtful moderator, however, is for now vacant.

Dark Days in Indiana

Q: Who's the biggest loser in November's election?
A: Public Education (Ann Delany, Indiana Week in Review)

Challenging Bennett's Argument

Oh, my goodness--a letter to the editor at the IndyStar that points to the obvious scapegoating going on from Tony Bennett and Mitch Daniels.  This blog is in no way meant to be an apologist for the unions (there are clearly problems there) but the union leadership has started to stand up to the mistruths and procedural wrangling of this administration.  After all, if a union won't stand up for it's members, then what's if for?  The other thing this points out of course is how through one side of the mouth folks will talk about the need for "data", they'll also, through the other side, advance policies that have no support in data or educational research.  Once again, what's most exciting is that the people are waking up to the hypocrisy and speaking out.

June 3, 2010

What negative impact?

Posted by Duane S. Nickell

In his recent "My View" piece, Dr. Tony Bennett talks of "the negative impact teacher unions can have on classroom instruction . . ." Extending Dr. Bennett's logic, one would expect that a negative correlation should exist between teacher unionism and student academic achievement. In other words, a higher level of teacher unionism should result in lower academic achievement. But when one looks at the countries that perform well on international tests, some (Finland, for example) are highly unionized while others (some of the Asian countries) are not.

In the U.S., the region of the country that performs worst on achievement tests is the South, where teacher unions have historically been the weakest. Massachusetts, where teacher unions are strong, always ranks near the top academically. I challenge Dr. Bennett to cite any educational research that clearly demonstrates a negative correlation between teacher unions and student achievement.

Falling for the "Tough Love" Spin

It's been noted here before that the Indy Star's Matthew Tully needs to be commended for bringing public education into the spotlight (although somewhat problematically) but here he shows some ignorance.  Bennett clearly sees where his bread is buttered and he's laying it on thick for Tully.  Some questions might be: what does one make of policies that "don't make sense"?; what do we make of cutting professional development support, time, and opportunities that make teachers better? how do you possibly defend education policy decisions with literally NO data behind them?  how do you defend a process that cuts out public comment, parental views, and due process?  how does responsible journalism allow politicians to spin failures as victories?

But perhaps most important, at what point is tough love not love anymore?  Indiana Citizens likes what you do Tully but.... you're falling for it again.

Tony Bennett's tough love

I've heard many complaints about state Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Bennett during months of conversations with teachers and school administrators. In fact, the easiest way to guarantee an eye roll from a public school educator is to simply mention Bennett's name.

He hates teachers, some insist. He's arrogant and too blunt, others argue. He's the governor's puppet, many believe. Or, critics say, his reform plans just don't make sense.

As much as I like teachers as a group, and as much as I respect the difficult challenges they face, I could hardly disagree more.

Bennett's tenure hasn't always been pretty. But he's done exactly what Indiana needed him to do during his first 17 months in office: He has put the debate over improving public schools at center stage. He's stood up to the entrenched education establishment. And he's made clear that neither baby steps nor the status quo is acceptable.

Still, there is a valid concern that Bennett's increasingly bitter battles with teachers unions, as well as his criticism of bad teachers, has left many good teachers feeling like collateral damage.

"That's a very fair observation," Bennett said Thursday morning during a meeting with editors and reporters from The Indianapolis Star. "Frankly, at times good teachers get lumped in with bad teachers, and that is unfortunate. Do I regret the dynamic that has occurred? Yes. Do I wish we had done a better job of messaging the sincere appreciation we have for great teachers? Yes. And I take full responsibility for that."

That's a good thing to say. There aren't many people who deserve more appreciation than those who do a good job of teaching children.

Still, Bennett's best trait is his willingness -- eagerness, even -- to take the punches that come with fighting the education bosses throughout the state. It's a trait some of his supporters argue clouds his message. Although they might be right, there's much to be said in praise of an education leader who lives in constant frustration with the state's current education climate.  "I will have no remorse for calling out the things that do not serve Indiana's children," he said.

As for his hard-charging early days, he's not apologizing, saying, "We had to drive home the fact that we were going to push for excellence." Union leaders have kicked back fiercely at Bennett. Those who apologize for the poor performance of districts such as Indianapolis Public Schools suggest that leaders who push for big changes cannot by definition be supporters of public education. The forces that attempt to protect the status quo in public schools are as powerful as anywhere else.

That's why I've appreciated Bennett's willingness to expose the harm caused by some union contract rules, and to say things state education superintendents before him refused to say.

Without question, he needs to reach out to rank-and-file teachers. But remember, his aggressive style has raised the profile of the education debate in Indiana, and led more people to take seriously talk that the state might finally force dramatic changes.

"If schools are not performing," Bennett said, "the state has a moral imperative to intervene. The state has to have the political courage to step in and help these kids."

I just spent nearly a year closely observing a public school, and I still find it hard to believe this country allows so many of its children to attend schools that do not offer an education even remotely comparable to better schools only miles away.

Bennett has occasionally stumbled. And, no doubt, he has angered many in the education business.

Good.

Let's hope he keeps it up.

No reform without trust...no trust without the truth

the tricks and spin continue from Bennett.....this guy has no shame and has got to go.  Luckily a few reporters like up in Fort Wayne and concerned citizens are starting to speak out.

No reform without trust

In Washington, public school teachers are reeling after the revelation that a multimillion-dollar deficit used to justify the layoffs of 266 educators last fall was actually a $34 million surplus.

Not unreasonably, the union questioned the credibility of the schools’ leader, placing on hold a contract agreement that would have changed the way they are paid and evaluated.

“We want to have a first-class school system,” Frazier O’Leary, a 40-year English literature teacher, told National Public Radio, “Reform is needed, but reform without trust doesn’t work.”

Sadly, that’s the same climate created in Indiana, where Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Bennett has attacked the Indiana State Teachers Association and the Indiana Federation of Teachers for refusing to sign off on the state’s application for the second round of federal Race to the Top funds.

He issued an ultimatum this month:

“While the labor unions have bemoaned the difficult financial status of Indiana’s schools, it doesn’t appear they are willing to support any change that could bring an additional $250M to our state,” he stated in a news release. The superintendent goes on to invite leaders of ISTA and IFT to discuss “specific reform plan components.” Bennett has invited the media and states that he will post video of the meeting on the department’s website after the session.


It’s a well-staged publicity stunt, given that he’s set up conditions to ensure the unions won’t play along. Bennett wants the organizations to endorse legislation requiring teacher evaluations based on student test scores. Those evaluations would be the basis for decisions on hiring, salary, retention, transfers and layoffs.

Evaluating teachers based on student test scores is a complex issue. The task of developing sound evaluation procedures isn’t impossible, but teachers would be foolish to trust the process sight unseen to the Indiana Department of Education, which eliminated more than 100 positions last year and is struggling to handle its current responsibilities.


Union representatives met with Bennett and his staff in at least four two-hour meetings before the first-round application, but each side left with a different impression of what the teachers’ associations had agreed to support. ISTA President Nate Schnellenberger said the union believed it had “sort of an umbrella agreement.”

“Our intent was always to sit down and hammer out details,” he said Wednesday.

“He (Bennett) thinks there were some tenets we agreed to that we really didn’t. For example, in order for a (Race to the Top) proposal to be considered by the U.S. Department of Education, it would require 51 percent of evaluations to be based on test scores. That’s not even the case with the states that won.”

Schnellenberger said Bennett’s directive for him to attend without any ISTA staff suggested the state superintendent wasn’t serious about working out the details.


“I do not believe a single meeting in your office, with the media in attendance, can begin to produce the kind of work that needs to be accomplished to create a viable plan for funding in the program’s second round,” he wrote in a letter hand-delivered to the superintendent’s office.

In a letter to ISTA members, Schnellenberger explained that the state, in spite of repeated requests, never shared with ISTA or any other education organization the contents of Indiana’s plan to overhaul education.

“Yet now, when time is short and pressure is deep, Dr. Bennett expects me to give an unequivocal agreement on his (Race to the Top) demands,” Schnellenberger wrote. “In Delaware and Tennessee, the two states that received round-one funding, state education leaders solicited and included meaningful input from their teachers’ association leaders through collaborative meetings and work sessions at every step of the process. That type of collaboration did not occur in Indiana.”


Bennett made an end-run around the unions and sent an e-mail message to all Indiana teachers, criticizing the ISTA president and attacking union rules regarding reduction-in-force. If Bennett’s intent was to divide the teachers association from its membership, it’s not working.

A Fort Wayne teacher said his co-workers are “incensed” by Bennett’s remarks about teachers.

“When you treat teachers and their representatives badly, do you think we will trust you more?” wrote another teacher in response to Bennett’s request for feedback. “When you insult veteran teachers, do you think tens of thousands of private-sector people will quit and line up and replace us so they can receive that kind of abuse?”


Indiana’s poor showing on the first round of Race to the Top funding – 23rd out of 40 states – can’t be blamed entirely on the unions, as the scoring clearly demonstrates. Bennett is wrong to use the promise of federal money to force an agreement with teachers.

As the individuals in the classrooms and closest to students, they deserve a bigger role in developing key policy. Bennett needs to restore a broken trust before any reform can take place.

More on Race to the Top & Bennett's Failure

Tony Bennett has been alienating and berating folks in education since he got elected and the Feds have noticed.  Indiana will never get the massive federal money if all the stakeholders aren't working together--given the reckless and misguided approach, it doesn't seem like this is even possible.  As for the Union response, when the DOE misleads the public and uses the media to spin and distort the truth, speaking back to the abuse is the only recourse.

Bennett, teachers take fight outside

Public spat threatens 2nd chance at stimulus funds for state schools

Relations between the state Department of Education and the state's two teachers unions have never been cozy, but they have been cordial. These days, a better characterization would be outright war.

That war is taking place mostly in public: press releases with ultimatums, attacks in local newspapers and an exchange of e-mails landing in the inboxes of every teacher in the state.

And the potential loss could be very high: The state's second chance at a piece of $4.4 billion in "Race to the Top" stimulus funds might be in jeopardy.

Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Bennett said he is passionately making a case for reforms he considers crucial to improve the well-being of the state's children.

The presidents of the Indiana State Teachers Association and the Indiana Federation of Teachers say Bennett is trying to steamroll teachers in the process and is using unfair tactics. Both have increased their own rhetoric against and criticism of the state.

The debate has come to a head over whether the unions will sign on to the state's second attempt to win stimulus funds.

Bennett has advocated tying job reviews for teachers to their students' test scores, and he has advanced policiesthat would allow teachers to be paid or dismissed based on job performance rather than years of experience.

The unions find that onerous.

"We've never been invited to be full partners," IFT President Rick Muir said. "I hope he wakes up and changes his course of action, but I'm not holding my breath."

Read More: IndyStar

Dear Dr. Bennett.....

A concerned educator, parent, and citizen responds to the misguided efforts coming out the Indiana Department of Education.....

Dear Dr. Bennett,


You have invited teachers to give you thoughtful feedback, and so I am taking you up on your invitation. I do agree with you on one point: there should be no filter between you and the teachers of Indiana. I am disappointed that you have chosen to present your questions in an either/or format when in fact the situations that you describe are complex, nuanced, politically charged and far too important to reduce to such inflammatory questions. If you are sincerely interested in open, honest and thoughtful dialog with teachers, you will first have to create conditions in which it is safe for teachers to tell you what they honestly believe and up to this point, I see no evidence that you have done this. In fact, I find myself having to face the possibility that writing to you will result in negative consequences for me personally and professionally, but I cannot remain silent in good conscience.

I have attended many sessions over the last year in which you professed to be hosting an open forum, but the reality was the forums were created to give the illusion of openness. I attended each and every one of the REPA Advisory Panel meetings and hearings in Indianapolis. Each time I have left feeling an increasing sense of despair for schools, administrators, teachers, and most importantly, students. I have seen first hand the consequences of the increasing pressure to perform on standardized tests as the State of Indiana dumps millions of dollars into McGraw-Hill's coffers at the expense of authentic teaching and learning. Schools have become spirit-killing sites of compliance, of drill, skill, and kill test preparation, and of joyless memorization of "facts."

Our brilliant, talented, creative and thoughtful students in Indiana deserve schools that will allow them to read deeply, engage in meaningful dialog, write inspiring works, and imagine a future beyond lock-step uniform compliance and worksheet completion. I want this kind of school for ALL Indiana children, and for that to happen, you will need teachers who understand how to create those conditions for teaching and learning. If you really want Indiana to lead the nation, as I have heard you profess, then Indiana will have to boldly break away from the mindless plodding toward the insanity and chaos that could potentially break out in states like Florida. You are our State Superintendent and I believe your primary responsibility is to lead schools, administrators, teachers, and students into a renaissance of authentic, meaningful, and exciting teaching and learning. I hope right now you are asking yourself how to begin. You could begin by sitting down with teachers and listening to them, really listening to understand what is happening in schools. You could also listen to students and to parents. Listening to highly-paid consultants and "experts" does not seem to be leading us to a shared vision of excellence.

Please, I beg of you, take seriously this moment in which we stand poised on the brink. An entire generation of students and the careers of dedicated professionals depend upon your next moves. This is bigger than politics and more important than relinquishing everything and anything to compete for federal dollars. For some students and their families, these impact of the decisions you make will literally be the difference between life and death.

Sincerely,

Citizen, life-long Resident, and registered Voter of Indiana
Licensed 9-12 Spanish and K-12 ESL Teacher
Parent of 3 Indiana High School Graduates and current Indiana college students
Teacher Educator and Professional Developer

why is tully so eager to fire teachers?

Interesting local blog....it's true Mathew Tully does seem set on this idea that a mass firing is the answer and that these supposed "wunderkinds" will magically appear and be successful.  For such a clamor for data-based decisions.....we sure haven't seen any data that this is the problem.

why is tully so eager to fire teachers?

indy star columnist matt tully has yet another column up today about how awesome it would be if IPS could fire teachers at whim, without being hampered by pesky union rules. this is at least the third column he's written on this topic in the past month, so clearly this idea is something he's excited about. it's a shame that all these columns are based on faulty assumptions.

Indiana DOE Fails to Get Federal Money

State vows to proceed with education reforms

Indiana fails in its bid for $450M in federal grants

Education leaders pledged Thursday to regroup and move forward with plans to reform Indiana schools even though the state was shut out of the running to split $4 billion in federal money.

The Indiana Department of Education had been confident after Obama administration officials cited the state in speeches and education groups pegged Indiana among the best contenders in the "Race to the Top" competition.

But its $450 million proposal was not among the 16 selected as finalists. Fewer than 10 will be picked to receive the money.  "I'm confused, I'm surprised and I'm disappointed," said Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Bennett. "But I'm not going to go back on my word. We're going to do what we said."

The U.S. Department of Education will hold back at least $2 billion of the money, which is part of theeconomic stimulus package, for a second round of applications later this year.  Gov. Mitch Daniels issued a statement expressing surprise that Indiana had not made it onto the list of finalists.   "We think we proposed as strong a reform package as we knew how, and others agreed," he said. "We're surprised we weren't a finalist, but the reform movement has to move forward with or without extra dollars."

Bennett said he still plans to open new paths to attract teachers and push to have principal and teacher evaluations tied to student test scores.

The state's plan also calls for shifting the focus from testing to measuring student progress and taking over low-performing schools that fail to improve over time.  Some of those proposals, though, will take much longer to accomplish without federal funding. Bennett said that he did not have specifics on a timeline but that his department is regrouping. "There will be parts of it to do now that will be a little bit more difficult than others," he said.

Another obstacle may be getting teachers unions to sign on to plans they had reluctantly agreed to without the incentive of millions of dollars in federal cash.  Indianapolis Public Schools Superintendent Eugene White said his district would stand with the state if it goes ahead with reform efforts, regardless of the money.

READ MORE:
http://www.indystar.com/article/20100305/NEWS04/3050338/State-vows-to-proceed-with-education-fixes

Fire all the Teachers!

This is what's coming folks....all this School Board has done is pre-empt the new rules coming from the Feds.  Now of course, how a completely new faculty are supposed to not only maintain the gains in reading in math but improve them hasn't really been explained yet.  But it sure is easy to blame the teachers, isn't it?

-- A school board in Rhode Island has voted to fire all teachers at a struggling high school, a dramatic move aimed at shoring up education in a poverty-ridden school district.

In a 5-2 vote Tuesday night, the board approved the plan by Frances Gallo, superintendent at Central Falls School District, to discharge the teachers, administrators and other personnel at Central Falls High School.

The firings, which will be effective at the end of this school year, came after the district said it failed to reach an agreement with the teachers' union on a plan for the teachers to spend more time with students to improve test scores.

A union spokesman called the firings drastic and cited a 21 percent rise in reading scores and a 3 percent increase in math scores in the past two years.

The school district said 93 people -- including the principal, three assistant principals and 77 teachers -- were fired. The teachers' union said the firings affected 74 classroom teachers plus a number of other educators such as guidance counselors and reading specialists.

Read More: