An optical article having a rare earth doped, fluorinated aluminosilicate glass core composition consisting essentially, in mole %, of: - SiO2 0-90 - GeO2 0-90 - Na2O 0-25 - Li2O 0-10 - K2O 0-25 - Rb2O 0-25 - Cs2O 0-25 - Al2O3 5-40 - Ga2O3 5-40 - RE2(1)O3 0-40 - RE2(2)O3 0-1 - Er2O3 0.001-5 - Yb2O3 0-5 - PbO 0-15 - RO 0-20 - ZnO 0-10 - ZrO2 0-2 - TiO2 0-2 - Nb2O5 0-10 - Ta2O5 0-10 - P2O5 0-5 - B2O3 0-15 - As2O3 0-10 - Sb2O3 0-20 - Na2Cl2 0-10 - Bi2O3 0-5, and - up to 15 weight % fluorine in the form of at least one of a fluorinated component of the glass composition and a batch constituent selected from a group consisting of at least one of AlF3, REF3, NH5F2, NaF, Na2SiF6, Na3AlF6, where RE(1) is at least one of Y, La, Gd, and Lu; RE(2) is at least one of Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu, Tb, Dy, Ho, and Tm; R is at least one of Ba, Ca, Mg, and Sr; (SiO2+GeO2) is in the range (40-90); and (Al2O3+Ga2O3)>(RO+"alk"2O+RE2O3) where "alk" is at least one of Li, Na, K, Cs, and Rb. A cullet-in-tube method for making continuous clad filament is also described. The invention provides for an optical waveguiding article having relatively high gain, a relatively flat gain spectrum, compatibility with conventional silica fiber, good durability and ease of manufacture.