Amy Hansen / StateImpact Ohio
Urged on by the Cleveland Teachers' Union, hundreds of educators from across the district packed a school board meeting last night to protest changes aimed at some of the city's worst performing schools.
The Cleveland Metropolitan School District wants to update the "Corrective Action Plans" aimed at boosting academic progress at 23 of the city's worst performing schools.The changes include specific demands on teachers, such as filing lesson plans with principals and increasing communication with parents.The administration says revamping the rules will help speed up academic improvement at the struggling schools.But the old plans were put in place just two years ago, and many educators---including special education teacher Tina Eaton--say that's too much pressure and not enough time to truly measure improvement."As the district invents plan, after plan, after plan, and increasingly puts more undo blame on teachers, we will continue to fail," Eaton said to cheers.Board members didn't publicly respond to the educators' comments at the meeting, but in a statement released later on WKYC's website, the district said "what we are seeing is the fear and anxiety that naturally sets in when old practices are replaced with new ones," while commending teachers for their day-to-day work.