May 18th, 2017 Boulder, Colo. – Federal and state school accountability policies have used standardized test results to shine a spotlight on low-performing schools. A remedy offered to “turn around” low-performance in school districts is the option to close the doors of the low-performing schools and send students elsewhere. School Closure as a Strategy to…
Category: Failing Schools
Should Failing Schools Be Closed?
If a company can’t make profit or manage its business correctly, the company inevitably fails and a better one takes its place. When public schools fail, they rarely “go out of business,” but instead go through a process of remediation and restructuring. There has been no evidence to show that restructuring procedures lead to significantly…
14 Failing Schools Closing, Including Site of Bronx School Stabbing
Dec 18, 2017 · by Rebeca Ibarra The city is planning to close more than a dozen failing schools. Most are part of the de Blasio administration’s Renewal program for struggling schools and haven’t shown enough improvement in the past three years. Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña said a big hurdle for many of the closing schools was getting their students to…
Oakland School Board votes to cut $9M from budget mid-school year
by Katie Utehs Thursday, December 14, 2017 OAKLAND, Calif. (KGO) — The Oakland Unified School District board voted 6-1 to cut the budget by $9 million mid-school year. The district is facing a budget shortfall that would leave it without an adequate reserve, which could in turn force state receivership of the district. Parents, students,…
As Tests Begin, Chancellor Comes Out Against ‘Opt Out’
The new chancellor, Richard A. Carranza, has called sitting out the state math and reading tests an “extreme reaction.” CreditRichard Drew/Associated Press By ELIZABETH A. HARRISAPRIL 10, 2018 New York City’s school chancellor Richard A. Carranza will be the first to tell you that he has a lot to learn. Since taking over at the education department…
Proposed charter school plan targets 5 Montgomery Public Schools
MONTGOMERY, AL (WSFA) – Last Friday was the deadline for public charter school applications. Last week, Interim State Superintendent Dr. Ed Richardson confirmed he had received a letter of intent from a local organization that was planning to submit an application for a plan that would include multiple existing MPS schools. Ann Sikes, the executive director…
LEAD Academy becomes first charter school approved for Montgomery, Alabama
Andrew J. Yawn, Montgomery AdvertiserPublished 2:19 p.m. CT Feb. 13, 2018 LEAD Academy is the first charter school to secure approval to operate in Montgomery. The Alabama Public Charter School Commission approved the school 5-1 on Monday after a presentation and a question-and-answer session. Commission member Henry Nelson was the opposing vote and Commission Chairman Mac…
What Would it Cost to Get All Students to Average? {#iBelieve}
By The Hechinger Report, Contributor March 26, 2018, at 11:30 a.m. Most low-income schools don’t receive enough money to help kids hit average math and reading scores, a new study shows. HOW MUCH DOES IT COST to educate a child? It often feels like policymakers pick numbers out of a hat. Utah spends less than $7,000 a year on…
The Myth of Public School Failure {#iBelieve}
The Myth of Public School Failure RICHARD ROTHSTEIN SPRING 1993 Public schools are actually performing remarkably well. What they need is not radical reform but more support. There’s a conventional wisdom about public schools: Graduates don’t have the skills needed for a technologically advanced economy. We’ve doubled funds for public education since the mid-1960s, but…
Standing Strong for Public Education! 