CLEVELAND (AP) -- Cleveland's mayor and teachers union have reached a compromise on a wide-ranging agreement meant to improve the city's troubled schools.

The agreement was announced Thursday by Mayor Frank Jackson, the teachers' union president and a bipartisan group of state lawmakers who will pitch the plan to colleagues next week in Columbus.

The deal calls for giving the mayor-appointed superintendent a stronger hand to close or reshape failing schools, lengthen the class day and school year, offer merit pay to top teachers and trim seniority rights in assignments and layoffs.

In return, the mayor backed off a so-called "fresh start" proposal to begin contract talks from scratch, without relying on past agreements. Organized labor called that idea union busting.