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Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Detroit Looks To Charters To Remake Public Schools : NPR

Detroit Looks To Charters To Remake Public Schools : NPR

Detroit Looks To Charters To Remake Public Schools

Janice Richardson, principal of Carstens Elementary School, stands in front of a  mural in the school's entryway. The Detroit Public School system is losing thousands of students, and Carstens  may have to close or become a charter.
This story is the first in an ongoing series on education overhaul in Detroit
The Detroit Public School system hopes to convert dozens of schools into charters in the next year or so in a last-ditch effort to cut costs and stop plummeting enrollment.
The plan faces tremendous skepticism from a generation of parents and teachers frustrated from previous reform efforts.
No one has ever done what DPS is trying to do: turn more than 40 schools into charters, some in just a few short weeks.
Greg Richmond of the National Association of Charter School Authorizers says that when the city first approached him with this idea, he hesitated.
"I was concerned when I first heard about Detroit's idea of starting a large group of