For the second day in a row, a small silent protest took place outside Savage Elementary School in Belleville.
“We are supporting our teachers, cause no one else will,” said parent Emily Smith.
The anger is over a few things. First, the teachers. Five of them, placed on leave, after a state probe found third and fourth grade students scored so high on a standardized test, the state believes, teachers must have cheated.
They are accused of allowing students too much time to take the test.
But some argued otherwise.
“The test is not a timed test,” said one former teacher protesting.
In some cases, math scores jumped 30 to 40 percent above state average. Something the state calls unlikely without help.
The other source of anger is a lack of information on investigative findings by the superintendent, who declined our request for an interview.
“The kids are upset. The teachers have been removed, are they fired or is there still an investigation going on,” wondered parent Nakenya Yarbrough.
