Sign Up For Our Newsletter

Half of Bellows Free Academy High School graduates are not proficient in reading, and more than half graduate without basic proficiency in math. Local Vermont Superintendent Robert Rosane wanted to change this, but was met with resistance by the union, who said it was unfair to call this high school failing because other surrounding schools boasted the same dismal statistics.

Unfortunately, this type of reasoning is scattered throughout the country and is not uncommon wherever status-quo backers are trying to fight education reforms. The reaction from the local Vermont teachers unions is also typical.

Four Vermont teachers unions have entered a vote of “no confidence” in the Superintendent Rosane and are calling for his termination after he criticized the BLOB’s plan for improving achievement. Rosane’s remarks expressed his frustration with how long the plan took to improve outcomes (five years) and called it an “excuse” not to get started on real changes needed immediately.

This Superintendent gets a thumbs up for recognizing that real reform, not a compromise masked as “change” that takes five years, is needed because kids’ educations are at stake and that simply cannot wait.