A tiny elementary school in the Stockton neighborhood has done nearly everything the government says failing schools should do. It converted into a charter school, free from school district rules. It swept out most of its teachers and replaced them. It hired a new principal. It lengthened its school day.Yet California officials dubbed King-Chavez Arts Academy a persistently failing school this week based on its test scores. Their remedy: Do the things that it has already done.
It is one of just six schools in San Diego County that have been targeted for turnarounds, a menu of dramatic and controversial changes meant to kickstart school reform. The problem is that the tiny school has already been turned, and turned, and turned. It made big changes to try to pull up its scores. And now the feds are demanding that it turn again.
"It's ironic," said David Wilson, development director for the King-Chavez schools, a system of charter schools in Logan Heights. "We did
Bright and Early: The Education Newsblitz
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Posted: Monday, March 15, 2010 7:49 am
Your Bright and Early is decidedly less early today thanks to Daylight Savings Time ... my nemesis.
What happens when the state demands that a school turn around with big changes ... when it's already made almost all the changes the state wants? We explore the strange situation of King-Chavez Arts Academy, which has replaced its teacher and its principal, converted into a charter school, and yet still ended up on the infamous state list.
Pinkslips that warn teachers of possible layoffs are going out, the Union-Tribune writes, and a strong sense of déjà vu is going out with them. Marsha Sutton at SDNN compares them to the Ides of March.