As of this writing, United States Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is considering moving the debate on health care reform to a process of reconciliation in the Senate. Reconciliation is more commonly referred to by its more colorful term, the "nuclear option." While this process was created to allow Congress to make adjustments to taxing and spending with a simple majority of votes, over the past several years it has become a tool for one political party to push its agenda through without the required 60 votes in the Senate.

Reconciliation is called the nuclear option for a reason. It shuts down debate on an issue and causes the collegial atmosphere in the Senate to become a harsh “us versus them” kind of place. With recent events that took place in Rhode Island, I thought about a different type of nuclear option. It seems like the recent news of the firing of the high school teachers, administrators, and support staff in Central Falls, under an educational reform step known as turnaround, can be considered a nuclear option in its own right.

Last week, Central Falls Superintendent Francis Gallo spoke at a meeting of the Rhode Island Statewide Coalition (RISC). RISC is a non-profit organization with the mission of serving as an advocate for quality of life issues affecting Rhode Island residents and property owners. Thanks to Justin Katz, of the Anchor Rising blog (www.anchorrising.com), I was able to watch Superintendent Gallo’s speech to the members of RISC.

In watching the video, it is apparent that this was a very painful decision for Superintendent Gallo to make. The rules she had to follow were set forth by the Obama administration and she had four options from which to choose. According to Superintendent Gallo, the first option of transformation really has been in place for the past three years. During that time, the attendance at the high school has increased from 70 to 89 percent over the past 3 years. Unfortunately, the test scores at the high school remained dismally low.

The next step was one of the nuclear options available. According to the U.S. Department of Education, the turnaround plan calls for the dismissal of teachers and administrators with the potential for 50 percent of those dismissed to be hired again. Other options call for the closing of the school or for the school to be turned over to a chartered management structure.

Embarking on the turnaround plan has an important benefit. Superintendent Gallo was allowed to assert her management rights. As the chief executive of the schools, the superintendent should be entitled to take control of every aspect of low-performing schools to take corrective actions. Of course, with that responsibility should be accountability. If the turnaround plan does not result in just that – a turnaround in test scores and school performance, then management changes are needed.

The turnaround approach may also carry some significant costs. First, as I understand it, these firings do not take place until the end of the school year. Having worked in an environment where it was known that your position was being eliminated in a few months time, I know that anxiety and reduced motivation can replace the passion and zeal one once had for their job. From both teacher and student perspectives, the rest of this academic year may be fraught with apathy, low productivity and decreased learning.

The biggest cost to pursuing the turnaround option is the collateral damage. Superintendent Gallo has offered praise for many of the Central Falls teachers and, hopefully, many of the teachers and administrators will re-apply for their positions. Unfortunately, only one-half of them can be hired back into their positions. Many good people that worked hard and did a good job may find themselves out of a job because of mathematics alone.

A frequent theme in my columns is the notion that all politics is local. People tend to care most about issues that are closest to what’s going on in their lives. Despite what some may think our education system is part of the political process. It is tied to local, state and federal funding. Often times, its teachers represent the largest collective bargaining unit in a city or town. As a result, school spending and education issues become part of our political mindset.

So, to consider the issues in Central Falls in a more local context, I reflected upon what happened in Central Falls and thought about what if that was happening at my childrens’ school. On the one hand, to see a superintendent take action after seeing years of almost no improvement would be refreshing. However, having been involved in the school for several years, to see great teachers, administrators, aides, and secretaries on the brink of losing their jobs would be very disheartening. Given this, now that Central Falls has embarked on its own nuclear option at the high school, let’s hope there’s a chance for education to flourish in the blast zone.

Bruce Saccoccio can be reached at bruce.saccoccio@yahoo.com.