This Insider heads out - D.C. Schools Insider - The Washington Post

This Insider heads out - D.C. Schools Insider - The Washington Post:

This Insider heads out

By Bill Turque

This is my last post for D.C. Schools Insider. As some of you already know, I’ve accepted an assignment to help out with The Post’s presidential campaign coverage.

The schools beat was more than an interesting job; it was a privilege. That’s what made the decision to leave after four years so difficult. People sometimes ask me whether Michelle Rhee’s departure made the story less compelling. My view is that while the post-Rhee days may lack the drama 2007-10, there remains no more important story in the District than the fate of public education.

I see it as a book with the chapters barely half-written. Charter schoolscontinue their growth, but can they lift their quality in a way that dramatically differentiates them from traditional public schools? DCPS

Mendelson to hold hearings on education, truancy

by Bill Turque

The usage is a little rocky but morbidly appropriate. The official announcement of the July 13 D.C. Council public education roundtable is headlined: “What Priorities Should the Council Address During the Remains of Council Period 19.”
Read full article >>

D.C. wants experienced charter operators, in a hurry

by Bill Turque

While I was gone, a significant announcement from the D.C. Charter School Board that slipped through without much notice. The board is proposing a streamlined approval process that would allow experienced charter operators with good track records in other cities to open their doors in the District a full year ahead of the current timetable.
Read full article >>