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Sunday, April 7, 2013

Daily Kos: Perhaps this will help you understand school closings

Daily Kos: Perhaps this will help you understand school closings:


Perhaps this will help you understand school closings

why in places like Chicago and Philadelphia the solution to economic problems in schools (even if artificially created) is to close schools.
Imagine if you will a detailed step by step guide on how to go about closing schools, field tested.
Imagine an organization which trains the leadership of many school districts, even although those it trains often do not meet the state requirements for being superintendents but somehow manage to get waivers.
In case you are having trouble grasping this, let me be clear.
The Broad Foundations (with the name pronounced as road with a B in front) is one of the biggest players in the "reform" movement in education.  Among their initiatives is the training of people to be superintendents and in other high positions in school systems.  While some of their trainees do have traditional backgrounds in education (John Deasy in Los Angeles, William Hite Jr. in Philadelphia, both of whom were previously my superintendents in Prince George's County MD), many come from other fields with no formal academic training in education (For example Jean Claude Brizard who failed in both Rochester NY and Chicago).
And now we know (h/t to Diane Ravitch), there is this handy guide, called School Closure Guide, subtitled "Closing Schools as a Means for Addressing Budgetary Challenges."
Please keep reading.