Here are a few suggestions for the kids of those anxious parents hovering on the edge of the playground with a first aid kit: Lick a 9-volt battery, just to see what happens. Super Glue your fingers together or look at the sun. And by all means, play with fire.

These are among the activities in a new book entitled 50 Dangerous Things (you should let your children do), the latest in a growing backlash against hyper-parents who try to insulate their offspring against every minor scrape, perceived threat and potential disappointment.

Underlying this burgeoning less-is-more parenting philosophy is a belief that today's bubble-wrapped kids are missing out on the way childhood used to be.

The Dangerous Book for Boys became an international sensation by teaching the video-game generation such long-lost and potentially perilous skills as building a snow fort or bow and arrow. In 2008, Canadian journalist Carl Honore published a book entitled Under Pressure: Rescuing Our Children from the Culture of Hyper-Parenting, encouraging people to stop "parenting too hard."

At the same time, the recession prompted lightened-up parenting by necessity, forcing many to scale back their over-scheduled children's activities for financial reasons.

"It really started as a snowball of observations that my friends' children were not having the kind of childhood that I did or even they did," says Gever Tulley, the California-based author of 50 Dangerous Things. "It got me thinking about how we become competent and where in the last 30 years we changed our definition of what kids are capable of."

The book's title is "deliberately provocative," Tulley says, and it's meant as both a guidebook for fretful parents who want to loosen up and a "call to action for over-protected children," with instructions on safe ways to experiment with dangerous things.

"We create a false impression in our minds that children are in peril all the time and everywhere, when in fact, according to the most recent studies, this is the safest time in history for children," he says. "There couldn't be a better time to be running around outside playing."

Writer Lenore Skenazy agrees, arguing there's a "gathering storm" among parents rejecting the notion that it was ever a good idea to coddle kids.

She accidentally became the standard-bearer for this backlash nearly two years ago, when she wrote a column for The New York Sun entitled "Why I Let My 9-Year-Old Take The Subway Alone," deriding hyper-vigilant parenting and igniting a ferocious debate in the process. Some people suggested her children should be seized by child protection services, she says, but others were grateful she'd said what they were thinking.

In response, Skenazy founded the Free-Range Kids movement, which has since grown into a book, a blog and a rallying cry for "a common-sense approach to parenting in these overprotective times."

At the moment, two of her favourite examples of parenting gone haywire are schools auctioning off prime drop-off spots right in front of the doors and a parenting magazine that took four pages to advise readers "how to spend a perfectly fun, safe day outdoors with your child."

"It's the society that's driving us crazy," Skenazy says. "I don't think it's our individual neuroses that are doing it."

The inspiration hit Tulley – a software engineer who doesn't have kids – at a dinner party in 2005, when he argued that over-protected children are "less competent" and mused about a summer program that would encourage them to build things and boost their independence.

"A good friend of mine reached across the table and grabbed my arm and said, `I'm sending my children to your school this summer. You have to start it!"' he recalls.

Now in its sixth year, Tinkering School is a one-week sleepaway camp for tweens and teens based near Tulley's home in Montara, Calif., just south of San Francisco.

Julianna Hrynkiw, 11, travelled from her home in Calgary to attend Tinkering School last year, learning to handle saws and drills while helping build a tent, a monument and – her favourite – go-karts.

"I'm kind of a maker and I like making stuff," she says. "I like small crafts that I can finish, because if I do a really, really big project, then I tend not to finish it. With Tinkering School, we did a few really big projects and we had to keep working on it."

She came home with a new sense of confidence and her own tool kit, her father Dave says.

"My wife and I were comparing notes on how far we were able to walk when we were kids and what sort of responsibilities we were given, and obviously, our kids aren't getting as many hands-on experiences as we'd like them to be," he says, adding with a laugh, "We wanted to throw her into the deep end and see how many limbs she could lose."

Hrynkiw says he was appalled when his seven-year-old son Dason recently brought a note home from school saying sliding on snowbanks in the schoolyard is now prohibited for fear of injury.

50 Dangerous Things contains a "why" section for parents, outlining lessons to be learned from each activity, along with hazard signs warning of potential property damage, frustration or cuts and scrapes. Despite the tongue- in-cheek tone, Tulley maintains the book is about safety, not danger.

"The framework for starting the book was the idea that kids would be safer if they had some experience in managing danger for themselves, and if we never give them an opportunity, they'll never develop those skills," he says.

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The study was published today in the March 2010 issue of the Psychological Bulletin, an American Psychological Association journal. It reports that exposure to violent video games is a causal risk factor for increased aggressive thoughts and behavior, and decreased empathy and prosocial behavior in youths.

"We can now say with utmost confidence that regardless of research method -- that is experimental, correlational, or longitudinal -- and regardless of the cultures tested in this study [East and West], you get the same effects," said Anderson, who is also director of Iowa State's Center for the Study of Violence. "And the effects are that exposure to violent video games increases the likelihood of aggressive behavior in both short-term and long-term contexts. Such exposure also increases aggressive thinking and aggressive affect, and decreases prosocial behavior."

The study was conducted by a team of eight researchers, including ISU psychology graduate students Edward Swing and Muniba Saleem; and Brad Bushman, a former Iowa State psychology professor who now is on the faculty at the University of Michigan. Also on the team were the top video game researchers from Japan - Akiko Shibuya from Keio University and Nobuko Ihori from Ochanomizu University - and Hannah Rothstein, a noted scholar on meta-analytic review from the City University of New York.

Meta-analytic procedure used in research

The team used meta-analytic procedures -- the statistical methods used to analyze and combine results from previous, related literature -- to test the effects of violent video game play on the behaviors, thoughts and feelings of the individuals, ranging from elementary school-aged children to college undergraduates.

The research also included new longitudinal data which provided further confirmation that playing violent video games is a causal risk factor for long-term harmful outcomes.

"These are not huge effects -- not on the order of joining a gang vs. not joining a gang," said Anderson. "But these effects are also not trivial in size. It is one risk factor for future aggression and other sort of negative outcomes. And it's a risk factor that's easy for an individual parent to deal with -- at least, easier than changing most other known risk factors for aggression and violence, such as poverty or one's genetic structure."

The analysis found that violent video game effects are significant in both Eastern and Western cultures, in males and females, and in all age groups. Although there are good theoretical reasons to expect the long-term harmful effects to be higher in younger, pre-teen youths, there was only weak evidence of such age effects.

Time to refocus the public policy debate

The researchers conclude that the study has important implications for public policy debates, including development and testing of potential intervention strategies designed to reduce the harmful effects of playing violent video games.

"From a public policy standpoint, it's time to get off the question of, 'Are there real and serious effects?' That's been answered and answered repeatedly," Anderson said. "It's now time to move on to a more constructive question like, 'How do we make it easier for parents -- within the limits of culture, society and law -- to provide a healthier childhood for their kids?'"

But Anderson knows it will take time for the creation and implementation of effective new policies. And until then, there is plenty parents can do to protect their kids at home.

"Just like your child's diet and the foods you have available for them to eat in the house, you should be able to control the content of the video games they have available to play in your home," he said. "And you should be able to explain to them why certain kinds of games are not allowed in the house -- conveying your own values. You should convey the message that one should always be looking for more constructive solutions to disagreements and conflict."

Anderson says the new study may be his last meta-analysis on violent video games because of its definitive findings. Largely because of his extensive work on violent video game effects, Anderson was chosen as one of the three 2010 American Psychological Association Distinguished Scientist Lecturers. He will give a lecture at October's New England Psychological Association (NEPA) meeting in Colchester, Vt.

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The girl did not bring the prescription drug to her Jeffersonville, IN school, nor did she take it, but she admits that she touched it and in Greater Clark County Schools that is drug possession.

Rachael Greer said it happened on Feb. 23 during fifth period gym class at River Valley Middle School when a girl walked into the locker room with a bag of pills.

"She was talking to another girl and me about them and she put one in my hand and I was like, ‘I don't want this,' so I put it back in the bag and I went to gym class," said Rachael.

The pills were the prescription ADHD drug, Adderall. Patty Greer, Rachael's mother, said she and her husband are proud of their daughter for turning down drugs, just like she's been taught for years by DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) instructors at school.

"I'm proud her conscience kicked in and she said, ‘No, I'm not taking this. Here you can have it back,'" Patty Greer said.
But just saying no didn't end the trouble for Rachael. During the next period, an assistant principal came and took Rachael out of class. It turned out the girl who originally had the pills and a few other students got caught. That's when the assistant principal gave Rachael a decision.

"We're suspending you for five days because it was in your hand," said Rachael.
After hearing the news, Patty Greer went to school officials.

"He said she wrote it down on a witness statement and she had told the truth, he said she was very, very honest and he said he was sorry he had to do it but it was school policy," said Patty Greer.

According to Greater Clark County Schools district policy, even a touch equals drug possession and a one week suspension.
"The fact of the matter is, there were drugs on school campus and it was handled, so there was a violation of our policy," said Martin Bell, COO of Greater Clark County Schools.

We wanted to know what would have happened if Rachael had told a teacher right away. Bell said the punishment would not have been any different. District officials say if they're not strict about drug policies no one will take them seriously.

"That's not a good policy," said Patty Greer. "We're teaching our kids if you say no to drugs you're going to get punished, it's not right."

Greater Clark County School district officials would not tell us how many other students were involved, but they did tell us there were other suspensions and some students were moved to an alternative school.

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The 19-year-old from Holliston, Mass. has announced his decision to run for Massachusetts State Representative of the Middlesex Eighth District. Loya is a political science major at UMass-Lowell and a member of the Libertarian State Committee. He feels he can make an impact as a member of the state legislature.

“I could bring a new infusion of ideas and a new jumpstart of youth to Beacon Hill,” he said. “I can help bring a new face to politics within a state.”

Loya is in the process of completing his nomination papers and obtaining signatures. He hopes to be officially on the ballot within a month, facing off on Nov. 2 against Carolyn Dykema. The incumbent and fellow resident of Holliston is twice Loya’s age.

Loya said he does not believe his age to be a factor against him. He mentioned names such as Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Mozilla Firefox founder Blake Ross as examples of successful individuals who made a large impact at a young age.

“It’s not actually youth that inhibits success,” said Loya. “It’s the policies that people put forth and enact that determine if they sink or swim in the world of politics.”

Loya believes that as an independent candidate, he can bring a new thought process to a two-party-driven Beacon Hill.
“Right now we have two major parties in Beacon Hill, but nothing really productive has come of having the two-party system,” he said. “Running as independent and as a conservative candidate, I feel I can bring a more fiscally responsible candidate to Beacon Hill that can help change our state’s budget shortfall.”

Loya’s plan for reviving the state budget does not involve an increase in taxes. It instead centers around a study released by the Beacon Hill Institute of Suffolk University. The study introduces the concept of TEL, a tax and expenditure limit. Loya said that according to the study, had Massachusetts chosen to adopt TEL in 1999, the state would have an additional $2.5 billion dollars in its budget.

In addition, Loya would push for the creation of private-sector jobs and small businesses because “that’s where most of our business and revenue comes in from.”

Two other issues shape Loya’s campaign. One deals with a revision to education curriculums taught in public schools. A graduate of Holliston public schools, Loya feels that there is too strong an emphasis on test-prep classes.

“Most studies show that students who participate in fine arts actually stat-wise do better on test scores, such as the MCAS or SAT,” he said. “If I went down to Holliston High School right now, there’s maybe one or two music study courses being offered or a couple of drawing classes. But over a course of a year, [there are] maybe 12 to 15 essay writing classes being taught.”

Loya said that he felt these classes were still important to keep in the curriculum, but that they should be balanced with other classes in all subject areas.

“Classes should spend time on different categories that help for the test,” he said. “But they shouldn’t spend a majority of the entire class or a semester studying to prepare for some sort of test. That’s not what a well-rounded education is.”
Loya’s final issue pertained to the need to maintain clean water in Holliston.

“Back in 2005, there were two incidents of E. coli getting into the well water supply,” said Loya. “A recent report came out on Feb. 12 by the Chairman of the Board of Water Commissions which said that out of six wells in Holliston, five have significant problems.”

“If I did get elected, I would propose to make sure that every well that still has issues has some sort of filtration system or some sort of oxidation system,” he said.

Loya offered another solution that involved a “more cost effective” process called sequestration. At the well head or pump intake, chemicals are added to the water before it is exposed to the air. This would get rid of manganese and iron, said Loya.

The candidate transferred to UMass-Lowell for his sophomore year, and commutes there every weekday. Last year, Loya attended Assumption College in Worcester, but said it was not the right fit for him to pursue his interests in political science and music.

Loya has been playing a variety of musical instruments for over 10 years, which include saxophone, tenor sax, clarinet, guitar and piano.

If elected, Loya would continue commuting to UMass-Lowell. He said that the school’s online courses and flexible schedule would allow him to have entire days of the week free from classes.

On his website, the candidate said he plans to attend law school after getting his bachelor’s degree.

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A move to lower the voting age from 21 to 18 has sparked fears of a shake-up of Lebanon's political structure, a complex power-sharing system between Christians and Muslims that has helped preserve a fragile peace since the end of the 1975-1990 civil war.

The fear resonates most strongly within Lebanon's once-dominant Maronite Christian community, today estimated at around 30 percent of the four-million population.

"Christians fear the numbers," Paul Salem, who heads the Beirut-based Carnegie Middle East Centre, told AFP.

"Mainly it is a fear that lowering the voting age might be the first step in rethinking the entire political structure."

The thorny issue may be put to the test at a parliament session on Monday, almost one year after MPs approved draft legislation to cut the age from 21 to 18.

But there are no guarantees that legislators will turn up for the vote.

Once a political and military force to be reckoned with, Maronites pride themselves as being founders of Lebanon, which has not had an official census since 1932.

But their leverage has steadily eroded since the civil war broke out 35 years ago as low fertility and high emigration rates took their toll.

"Lebanon of the 20th century started with a heavy Christian presence, dropped to a six-to-five ratio, then to a 50-50 (power) share" between Christians and Muslims, Salem said.

"The next step is not so good for Christians."

The 1989 Taif Accord ended Lebanon's devastating civil war and formalised the guarantee of a share in power for the country's many minorities.

The accord gave Maronites the presidency but stripped the post of many of its powers. It also allocated the prime minister's post to Sunni Muslims and Shiite Muslims the position of parliament speaker.

Seats in government and parliament were evenly divided between Muslims and Christians.

Prime Minister Saad Hariri's office on Sunday highlighted comments he made to Italy's Corriere Della Sera newspaper during a weekend visit to the Vatican, apparently aimed at soothing Christian fears.

"We have parity between Christians and Muslims, and it will stay forever. Lebanon is the only country in the Arab world that has a Christian president ... I want to reassure the Christians that we are one," Hariri said.

However, experts say the Maronites today fear the voting age "reform" could be the first step towards demands for direct popular representation in Lebanon, which does not follow a "one person, one vote" formula.

"Today, equal power-sharing is still guaranteed constitutionally and Muslims are voicing support for that guarantee," columnist Edmond Saab wrote in the newspaper As-Safir.

"But with the realisation that their community in Lebanon is shrinking, many Christians are considering whether, in a few generations, Muslims will start questioning why they should continue to give Christians half when they are a minority."

Unlike Lebanon's more politically homogeneous Shiite and Sunni Muslim camps, Maronites divide their loyalty between a US- and Saudi-backed alliance led by Hariri and a Hezbollah-led coalition backed by Syria and Iran.

And while they disagree on many political issues, Maronite MPs are united in one demand.

Banking on their diaspora to balance out shifting internal demographics, they are pushing for Lebanon to allow expatriates to cast ballots abroad if the voting age is lowered.

Lebanon's diaspora is estimated to number at least double its population. Expats above the age of 21 who hold Lebanese citizenship are already listed in the interior ministry's registry. Just over a third of them are Christian.

Analysts estimate that lowering the voting age would add more than 50,000 Christians to the electorate, mainly Maronites, and about 175,000 Muslims, roughly equally split between Shiites and Sunnis.

While the change could tip the scale in a handful of swing districts, it would make little difference in the overall election outcome and the reality of Lebanese politics, according to analysts.

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At a San Francisco school, a 13-year-old boy hit another youth and took 46 cents by him. He says the punch was meant as a joke, and the harassed student was unhurt; he apologized and returned the loose change. I have strong feelings against bullying, and I'm not even a fan of the roughhousing boys are often allowed to get away with. The kid definitely deserved after school detention; if the school wanted to be really tough, it might even consider suspending him.

Instead, he's being deported, along with his mother and five-year-old brother, for "robbery, assault, and extortion," after the incident was reported to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and he was discovered to be undocumented. Not only is deportation a punishment totally out of proportion to the "crime," these overblown charges alone are ludicrous -- although I guess I shouldn't be too surprised, given that last month a 12-year-old was arrested for doodling in New York.

A spokesman for San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newson, who has been tough on making sure any undocumented youth who meets the police gets deported right away, defended the deportation: "We don’t want to put at risk law-abiding San Francisco residents, including the undocumented, by shielding criminal behavior." Umm ... what? I'm sorry, but I find it hard to believe that taking less than a dollar (and giving it back) and some roughhousing by a 13-year-old puts S.F. residents at risk. I remember school, and if this kind of incident is such a huge danger, you're going to have to start arresting and locking up a ton of students -- American-born at that -- since this episode is not out of the ordinary. Like I said, I'm all for no-bullying policies and detention (not the ICE kind), but arrest and deportation?

Charles Washington, the youth's stepfather, says, "I feel like they've taken my right to have a family." He plans to visit his family in Australia, their country of origin, but because his 12-year-old daughter from a prior marriage lives in America, he can't pick up and move halfway across the world. And his wife and stepchildren are now under a 10-year undocumented penalty ban against reentering the U.S. Even worse, Washington claims that the only reason his stepson and wife are undocumented is because of false information given to them by customer service at a federal immigration office.

When Washington married last year, his wife and her family were in the U.S. legally on a temporary visa wavier. Eligible for legal permanent resident status by wedlock, she and her husband called for information on how quickly they needed to file paperwork for a green card. The response? Take your time, the Washingtons say they were told. So the family decided to put it off until December, since there supposedly wasn't any penalty, and the application was going to cost them thousands of dollars.

Unfortunately, it was necessary to file new paperwork before the temporary visa wavier expired, which administrative violation then kept them from getting documented. Yet if the family had been advised that it was important to get the legal documentation straightened out ASAP, they wouldn't have been in a situation were they could get torn apart and deported all because of loose change -- and a deeply flawed immigration system.

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The Schatz's homeschooled their nine children and grew their own food. Which would all be well and good if they weren't also followers of nutbag Tennessee evangelist Michael Pearl. His schtick is to teach parents to beat their children so they become more obedient to God and family.

Apparently their 7-year-old daughter Lydia was struggling with one of her homeschool lessons and she mispronounced a word. That might be expected since the girl's formative years were spent in Liberia. But the Schatz's decided that God wanted her beaten. So they did.

Police say Elizabeth held the girl down while Kevin beat her on the back with a plastic tube for hours. The torture caused massive tissue damage.

When Lydia stopped breathing, Elizabeth called 911. Medical workers resuscitated her at a nearby hospital. But Lydia died later Saturday morning.

Police also found that another 11-year-old adopted girl had been beaten for lying and supposedly being a bad influence on Lydia. She is now in critical condition at a Sacramento hospital suffering from kidney failure due to her injuries.

Detectives found a 15-inch piece of tubing believed to have been used in the beatings. Both parents have been charged with murder.

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The secretary of the Joventut de la Generalitat, Eugeni Villalbí, believes that if at age 16 can decide to abort children, work, and can change their treatment before the judicial system they must also be able to vote

The secretary of the Joventut de la Generalitat, Eugeni Villalbí, has been in favour of young people voting at 16 and, as explained in an interview with ACN, will work to include this premise in the National Pacte per la Joventut. He said that at this age they are treated as adults in many respects, but can not exercise the primary right to decide in a democracy.

Villalbí has indicated that this is a debate that is already being considered in other areas of the world and that some Catalan parties have also spoken regarding the issue, such as the ERC, ICV and PSC. However, he explained that working with political parties to reach a consensus on the matter will start in Manresa on 27 February.

Villalbi explained that the pact has to be used to improve the quality of life of youths and has to affect their process of emancipation, which includes housing, work and training. The secretary has suggested that in the future it will deal with the two main differences being drafted now. The first is the pact will be given "legal status" because the present is only an institutional statement. and the second is to establish specific goals.

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The official, who asked not to be identified, said the FBI became involved in the case after a family filed a lawsuit against the Lower Merion School District, located outside of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

The family accused an assistant principal at Harriton High School of watching their son through his laptop's webcam while he was at home and unaware he was being watched. The family also says the school official used a photo taken on a laptop as the basis for disciplining the student.

In a statement issued late Friday, District Superintendent Christopher McGinley rejected the allegations.

"At no time did any high school administrator have the ability or actually access the security-tracking software," he said. "We believe that the administrator at Harriton has been unfairly portrayed and unjustly attacked in connection with her attempts to be supportive of a student and his family. The district never did and never would use such tactics as a basis for disciplinary action."

A school official said it was a mistake not to make families aware of a feature allowing the school to monitor the computer hardware.

The law enforcement official with knowledge of the case told CNN that the FBI will try to determine whether federal wiretap or computer intrusion laws were violated.

But FBI spokesman J.J. Klaver said he could not disclose the existence of an investigation.

In a lawsuit seeking class-action status filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, Michael and Holly Robbins of Penn Valley are suing the school district, its board of directors, and the superintendent. They claim that the district unlawfully used its ability to remotely access a webcam on their son's laptop computer, which was issued by the district.

The lawsuit says that on November 11, 2009, the plaintiff's son was told by the assistant principal at Harriton High School that he was caught engaging in "improper behavior" in his home which was captured in an image via the webcam. According to the Robbins' complaint, neither they nor their son were informed of the school's ability to remotely access the webcam. It is unclear what the boy was doing in his room or if any punishment was given out.

Doug Young, spokesman for the Lower Merion School District, told CNN that the district would only remotely access a laptop if it was reported lost, stolen or missing.

If that happened, the district would first have to request access from its technology and security department and receive authorization, he said. Then it would use the built-in security feature to take over the laptop and see whatever was in the webcam's field of vision, potentially allowing them to track down the missing computer.

During the 2009-2010 school year, 42 laptops were reported lost, stolen or missing, and the tracking software was activated by the technology department in each instance, according to McGinley's statement. A total of 18 laptops were found or recovered.

McGinley said the parents and students were not explicitly told about this built-in security feature.

"Despite some reports to the contrary, be assured that the security-tracking software has been completely disabled," McGinley said in the statement.

"This feature was limited to taking a still image of the computer user and an image of the desktop in order to help locate the reported missing, lost, or stolen computer (this includes tracking down a loaner computer that, against regulations, might be taken off campus)."

In order to receive the laptop, the family had to sign an "acceptable-use" agreement. In order to take the laptop home, the family would also have to buy insurance for the computer.

In the "acceptable-use" agreement, the families are made aware of the school's ability to "monitor" the hardware, Young said, but it stops short of explicitly explaining the security feature. He said that was a mistake.

Young told CNN that the district is very proud of the laptop program and its ability to close the technology gap between students who have computers at home and those who don't. He acknowledged that the schools have to take a step back to re-evaluate the policies and procedures surrounding the program.

Multiple requests for further comment from the lawyer for the Robbins', Mark Haltzman of Lamm Rubenstone LLC, went unanswered.

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Under threat of losing their jobs if they didn’t go along with extra work for not a lot of extra pay, the Central Falls Teachers’ Union refused Friday morning to accept a reform plan for one of the worst-performing high schools in the state.

The superintendent didn’t blink either.

After learning of the union’s position, School Supt. Frances Gallo notified the state that she was switching to an alternative she was hoping to avoid: firing the entire staff at Central Falls High School. In total, about 100 teachers, administrators and assistants will lose their jobs.

Gallo blamed the union’s “callous disregard” for the situation, saying union leaders “knew full well what would happen” if they rejected the six conditions Gallo said were crucial to improving the school. The conditions are adding 25 minutes to the school day, providing tutoring on a rotating schedule before and after school, eating lunch with students once a week, submitting to more rigorous evaluations, attending weekly after-school planning sessions with other teachers and participating in two weeks of training in the summer.

The high school’s 74 teachers will receive letters during school vacation advising them to attend a Feb. 22 meeting where each will be handed a termination notice that takes effect for the 2010-’11 school year, Gallo said.

Gallo said she was devastated and that she had thought the union would agree to her conditions, even though she did not offer to pay the teachers more for most of the additional responsibilities.

A month ago, Education Commissioner Deborah A. Gist mandated that the district adopt one of four models to fix the troubled school, which has some of the lowest graduation rates and test scores in the state.

Gallo’s first choice, the “transformation” model, was consistent with her conditions on how to improve the high school. But if the teachers would not agree, the superintendent said she would select her second choice, the “turnaround” model, which requires the removal of the entire staff of the school. The turnaround model allows the district to hire back no more than 50 percent of the old staff.

“I am saddened and shaken at the core by the enormous ramifications of my responsibilities,” Gallo said. “The only solace I have is that I know I provided every opportunity possible, in fully public and transparent ways, the means to avoid this.”

Union officials say they, too, want to improve the high school but are unwilling to sign off on the six conditions, especially without receiving additional pay. In a letter, union officials said they do not think Gallo has the authority to fire the teachers and she must negotiate the terms of the reforms.

In an interview, Jane M. Sessums, union president, said the union intends to fight the terminations, although she was not ready to say how.

Students Friday expressed sadness, frustration and dismay at learning that their teachers would be fired en masse. Most had no idea why their teachers were being let go.

“They are very sweet,” said André Monteiro, 19, a senior. “They help us out and get the job done. They treat us with respect.”

“It’s sad,” said Jessica Lemur, another senior. “They stay when we need help. They love us. I was shocked when I heard the rumors.”

A couple of parents said they were stunned by the announcement and said they blamed students, not teachers, for the high school’s consistently poor performance.

“It’s not fair,” said Angela Perez, who has a daughter at the high school. “They shouldn’t be punished because the students are lazy.”

“The teachers care so much,” said Perez’s daughter, Ivannah Perez, a recent Central Falls graduate. “I’ve seen them stay after school. I’ve seen them struggle. It’s the students. They don’t want to learn.”

Most teachers declined to talk as they left school yesterday. But a couple of teachers paused long enough to share their thoughts.

Sheila Lawless-Burke, an English-as-a-Second Language teacher, said teachers are not opposed to working harder — or longer; they simply want the opportunity to negotiate the details of their contract, not have it imposed from above.

“It’s all about the politics,” she said, “about making Fran Gallo look good. The issue is having the right to negotiate. Once we allow the superintendent to get her foot in the door, where will it stop?”

Gist, who has 10 days to review Gallo’s proposal, said she expects to make a decision early next week.

“We know she is moving forward urgently and we want to support that,” Gist said.

Gallo and Gist say they have the authority to make these changes, based on federal education regulations and on state law that allows the state to intervene in chronically failing schools and districts.

“We’re very confident we are following both state and federal laws very carefully,” Gist said, “and, in fact, it’s the expectation both in state and federal law that we take these steps.”

TIMELINE Showdown over Central Falls HS

March 17, 2007: Frances A. Gallo, veteran educator and former deputy superintendent of Providence schools, is chosen as Central Falls school superintendent.

2008-2009: Test scores remain a problem at Central Falls High School as only 3 percent of 11th graders are proficient in math in 2008 and 7 percent in 2009.

November 2009: Gallo begins talks with teachers on her plans to reform the high school.

Jan. 11, 2010: State Education Commissioner Deborah A. Gist names the high school as one of the state’s worst schools and in need of closure or complete overhaul. Gallo says she already has a plan ready to implement in the fall. The plan would include a longer school day, more training, more tutoring.

Feb. 1-5, 2010: Gallo and union leaders are unable to reach an agreement on pay issues for the extra work. She says the failure is forcing her to switch to a reform model that calls for firing all teachers at the high school.

Feb. 9, 2010: During a packed meeting, Gallo gives the teachers’ union more time to agree on her original plan.

Feb. 12, 2010 Talks fail; Gallo proceeds with across-the-board firing plan.

Source

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