The Arkansas education commissioner plans to seek a waiver from teacher-dismissal rules from the state Board of Education for more than half the schools in the Little Rock School District, he said in a written statement Monday.
The statement described Commissioner Johnny Key's rejection of a 2018-2019 tentative agreement between the Little Rock School District and its employees' union, the Little Rock Education Association.
Key called for amended language in two sections of the document, one of which he said would allow "needed flexibility" around teacher-dismissal laws.
"Under Act 930 of 2017, the state board of education has the authority to waive laws regarding teacher dismissal for school districts in the Level 5 -- Intensive Support category," he wrote. "As a district in that category, the district needs this greater flexibility to make staffing changes in struggling schools than what the negotiated agreement currently allows."
Key said the state Department of Education intends to request approval for a waiver from the state board for what he called "cumbersome" teacher-dismissal laws. Those rules "don't allow the district to be nimble in addressing staffing issues that can negatively impact student learning," his spokesman wrote in an email.
In his statement, Key pointed to a recent school ratings report he said "reflect[s] insufficient progress in improving academic performance" at several schools.
He asked for the contract to indicate support from the district and its union for the waiver process, which would apply to schools receiving a school rating of "D" or "F." That encompasses 22 of 40 schools in the district.
The Little Rock Education Association issued a news release Monday night criticizing Key's plans regarding the waiving of dismissal rules, saying educators were being faulted for poor school performance while principals were not.
"Today, our educators are being asked to give up their due process guaranteed under the laws of the great state of Arkansas," Teresa Knapp Gordon, president of the Little Rock Education Association, wrote in the release. "Even murderers receive due process in court, yet the Commissioner expects our members to not only give it up, but to support giving it up."
Teacher-dismissal laws in Arkansas include rules on probationary periods at the beginning of service, teacher access to personnel files, contract renewal, suspensions and terminations.
Waiving those rules at "D"-rated and "F"-rated district schools, Gordon wrote, could create problems securing teachers to work at those campuses.
"What is the state's plan to recruit and retain teachers in those schools? There is a national and state teacher shortage of certified applicants to teach in any district, much less in schools with waivers of Fair Dismissal," she said.
With his rejection of the work agreement, Key also asked for the restoration of language regarding recognition of the Little Rock Education Association to the wording in the previous contract.
The Little Rock School District has been controlled by the state since 2015 due to low test scores in six schools at that time. Under that arrangement, Key serves as the school board and must approve the contract between the district and its workers.
He approved the previous three years' agreements, a spokesman said. This year's tentative agreement, which did not include salary and a few other provisions, was submitted to Key on Oct. 3.
Gordon said the state had offered little assistance to the district since the takeover, while approving charter schools that "take students and drain our resources."
State-appointed Little Rock Superintendent Mike Poore had recommended that Key endorse the agreement, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported.
But "it is not unusual for a board to give direction to a superintendent," Poore wrote in a message to district principals. "We hope to continue the negotiation process with [the Little Rock Education Association] in the near future on these language recommendations."
Poore wrote that the district will remain committed to working with the union "in a manner that fosters open, two-way communication with the ultimate goal of doing what is best for our students and staff."
A Section on 10/23/2018