The plan: Travesty or opportunity?
by Dale Mezzacappa on Apr 24 2012 Posted in Latest news
It is a new day, a bold experiment, an opportunity for innovation.
Or, it is a travesty, the end of public education as we know it, a cynical right-wing ploy. Not to mention a new twist on the decision a decade ago, for which the District has little to show, to turn over schools to education management organizations.
Sixty-four closed school buildings. A skeletal central office. “Achievement networks” of affiliated schools, at least some led by current District educators, perhaps by universities, that operate on performance contracts. More charter schools and charter networks. Renegotiated, or abrogated, labor contracts.
Sixty-four closed school buildings. A skeletal central office. “Achievement networks” of affiliated schools, at least some led by current District educators, perhaps by universities, that operate on performance contracts. More charter schools and charter networks. Renegotiated, or abrogated, labor contracts.
As the full implications sink in of the School District’s blueprint for “radical” restructuring – a tame description, under the circumstances – reaction is ranging from outrage to guarded optimism that city students might actually get a better