Restart or Reflux?
By Carol Boyd
Last week the New York City Department of Education (DoE) announced the names of the 22 persistently low achieving (PLA) schools chosen to implement Restart, one of the four models authorized under the federal School Improvement Grants (SIG) guidelines. Schools that are selected for Restart are eligible to receive up to $2 million per year in SIG funds for a period of three years. Under the Restart model, schools will be under the management of education partner organizations (EPOs). If done well, Restart could be a real opportunity for struggling schools to finally get the guidance and supports they have needed for years. Unfortunately, thus far the Restart process looks more like a recipe for failure.
On Thursday May 19th, representatives of the DoE met at Brooklyn Borough Hall to brief potential bidders for the EPO awards about the Restart process (link to audio recording here). It is common knowledge that turning around the lowest-performing schools is one of the most challenging endeavors in public education, and cannot be successful without-depth planning, consensus-building and research. However, in typical “haste makes waste” fashion, the DoE intends to have bidders submit their proposals by next Friday, May 27th. The DOE plans to notify vendors within 2 weeks of their submittals, or by June 10th. According to the Request for Proposals,
