Preparing to fail
‘Radical’ Failed DC Chancellor Michelle Rhee's agenda syncs up with district's plan to close diverse schools
By Raheem F. Hosseini
raheemh@newsreview.com
Related stories: Fail Test scores are mixed, costs are high and teachers are pissed. Why critics say Sacramento city school reform could … SN&R, 11.17.11. Laugh it up Sacramento school closures are a bummer, negotiations with secret whales a joke. SN&R, 02.28.13. Michelle Rhee's report card doesn't add up California gets an F for bucking corporate education reform. SN&R, 01.17.13. Advertisement  |
Local elementary student Michelle Bass already knew her school was spared a districtwide bloodletting by the time she stepped up to the podium during last week’s Sacramento City Unified School District Board of Education meeting.
Days earlier, Superintendent Jonathan Raymond issued yearlong reprieves to both Mark Twain Elementary School, Bass’ alma mater, and Tahoe Elementary School, which were part of a controversial school-closures list that peaked at 11 names.
During an emotionally charged meeting on February 21, a divided school board agreed to shutter seven and to add an eighth—Mark Twain, east of the Fruitridge Heights neighborhood, or Tahoe, a few miles north—the following month, as part of an ongoing effort to cut costs for a 10th straight year.
But after getting battered during community meetings held at each school before and after the closures vote, Raymond bailed on this final “Sophie’s choice.”
Raymond called the community’s connection to Mark Twain, in particular, “special and unique.”
But to Bass and others, the justification for sparing her school was as bewildering as the justification for closing the others.
Days earlier, Superintendent Jonathan Raymond issued yearlong reprieves to both Mark Twain Elementary School, Bass’ alma mater, and Tahoe Elementary School, which were part of a controversial school-closures list that peaked at 11 names.
During an emotionally charged meeting on February 21, a divided school board agreed to shutter seven and to add an eighth—Mark Twain, east of the Fruitridge Heights neighborhood, or Tahoe, a few miles north—the following month, as part of an ongoing effort to cut costs for a 10th straight year.
But after getting battered during community meetings held at each school before and after the closures vote, Raymond bailed on this final “Sophie’s choice.”
Raymond called the community’s connection to Mark Twain, in particular, “special and unique.”
But to Bass and others, the justification for sparing her school was as bewildering as the justification for closing the others.