The many big cities now looking for school superintendents—Houston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Newark, Seattle, and Washington, D.C., among them—need to pay attention to what has happened in Chicago. Like Chicago, these districts face big and persistent achievement gaps, with many troubled and low-performing schools. Unlike Chicago, they aren’t the one city in the country where students learn the most for every year they spend in school.
The Lens
Bringing vision and clarity to education policy
As the recent debacle at Washington D.C.’s Ballou High school showed, it’s not always clear whether graduation rates mean anything about whether a student is prepared for college or career. But when it comes to students with disabilities, we have reason to believe high school graduation rates are simply a farce.
The State of Texas passed an innovation law (Senate Bill 1882) in summer 2017 to foster partnership schools, much like those profiled in CRPE’s recent brief. CRPE research analyst Sean Gill spoke with Molly Weiner, director of policy at the Texas Aspires Foundation, about her thoughts on the creation of the bill and its potential to increase collaboration between districts and charter and nonprofit organizations.
One of the essential features of a charter school, what most distinguishes it from a district school or voucher-receiving school, is that it is “authorized” by a public agent and held accountable for results promised in its performance contract.
The nominating panel charged with selecting candidates for Philadelphia’s new nine-member school board has received its last application. Now, as the district prepares to retake local control of its schools July 1, the panel’s 13 members must identify the 27 best candidates for Mayor Jim Kenney to choose from. It will be a daunting and exciting task.
Cities across the country are grappling with persistent school segregation. While some argue that public school choice increases the problem, there are ways that cities can use carefully designed school choice initiatives as a vehicle for integrating schools.
Summer vacation may still be months away, but school leaders across the country are already gearing up to hire teachers for the next school year. Many will find themselves in the same predicament they’ve faced for years: scrambling until the last minute to fill open positions, especially in crucial subjects like math, science, and special education.