Romney plan would loosen rules on teacher firings

Governor Mitt Romney wants to help resuscitate struggling schools by giving superintendents more power to fire teachers and release school administrators from collectively bargained contract provisions.

The measures are part of a 10-point plan developed by a commission he charged with preventing low-performing schools from falling into state receivership.

But legislators, scrutinizing the plan in public yesterday, said the bill could pave the way for a vast and unwelcome expansion of charter schools by emphasizing punitive measures over support for ailing schools.

Legislators said they would prefer other methods to help struggling schools, such as more money, expert advice, and support programs for parents.

Representative Karen Spilka, an Ashland Democrat, told Paul Grogan, president of The Boston Foundation, who chaired the 15-member commission that developed the legislation, that the bill "is punitive" and offers few "incentives" to help schools.

Representative Steven Walsh, a Democrat from Lynn, called it "an attack on teachers" and said it would open the door for more charter schools.

Romney has proposed lifting the cap on charter schools in Massachusetts.

The House chairwoman of the committee, Representative Marie St. Fleur of Boston, said she was dismayed that the administration appeared to be pushing the punitive aspects of the proposal ahead of the positive points.

Grogan said, "We don't feel it's punitive at all." He said the bill would help school principals make "tough-minded judgments" while fostering "a spirit of partnership throughout."

Under the bill, the threshold for firing teachers in low-performing school districts, which fail for two consecutive years to meet annual test score benchmarks, would be lowered from "just cause" to "good cause." A team of education officials would be given 30 days to assess whether the district was fit to rebuild the school. If not, a "turnaround team" -- either a private corporation, nonprofit, university, or group of former school officials -- would take over the management of the school. Administrators would be released from the strictures of teacher protections in collective bargaining agreements.

Sixteen schools in Massachusetts -- all in Winchendon and Holyoke -- are currently declared underperforming.