The state Assembly approved legislation early Friday morning that would allow school districts to use student performance on standardized test scores as a factor to discipline or fire teachers.

The bill, passed at the last meeting of the regular session, will also allow for school boards to bypass class size limits participating in the Student Achievement Guarantee in Education program, grant high school credit for extracurricular sports, allow charter schools to expel students and allow school districts to contract public or private agencies to provide certain services for special education students.

The bill, approved by a vote of 54-38, was split along party lines, with all Democrats opposing and all but one Republican supporting.

Rep. Brett Hulsey, D-Madison, said the bill will not help local communities achieve.

He described how any student could have a bad day while taking a standardized test, which could potentially affect a teacher’s future. He also said test scores are often determined by parental income and parental education level, rather than student achievement.

“It is ironic that this body is voting to micromanage local schools and teachers after giving them a record cut in funding,” he said.

Hulsey also cited the SAGE program’s smaller class sizes as a way to help students learn more efficiently, especially in areas like math and science.

He said allowing class sizes to approach 18 to 30 pupils negates SAGE’s goal.

“This bill takes things that we know work and guts them, while pushing on things like these [punitive measures] that we know [do not] work. It’s another step backwards in education,” he said.

Rep. Steve Kestell, R-Elkhart Lake, emphasized school districts must have additional factors other than student performance when disciplining or firing a teacher.

He said if a teacher acts against a policy or violates a term of their employment, the school district does not need an excuse to dismiss them.

“I’ve never met a school board and school administration that is out there looking for new and exciting ways to fire teachers,” he said. “You can use test scores, but they must be value added and that cannot be the only component. School districts want to find ways to keep their best teachers, not looking to get rid of them. And they want to help those teachers who need a little help to get better.”

Jay Heck, executive director of Common Cause in Wisconsin, said the bill unfairly compares teachers in school districts statewide with incomparable socioeconomic differences.

He said a wealthier school district in Waukesha County or the City of Madison would have more resources, a greater tax base and higher test scores, since students are coming from families with a greater economic advantage than places like inner-city Milwaukee.

Heck said the issues the bill presents should be decided on a local level statewide, not by the state Legislature.

“Parents in consultation with teachers and administrators in their local districts should be discussing these matters and coming up with their own solutions if there is a problem, not state legislators in Madison,” he said.