Experts: Hire committed and visionary leaders for recovery school district. Hasn’t Atlanta already done that?
The experts yesterday at the joint House-Senate meeting on recovery school districts provided a clear summation of what Georgia needs to seek in a leader to oversee low-performing schools seized by the state: The candidate has to be committed to the tenet all students can learn, unwilling to accept excuses, inspirational and smart.
Gov. Nathan Deal is proposing to seize control of some of the 141 lowest-performing schools in Georgia by moving them into a new state-run Opportunity School District. (His plan calls for 20 schools a year to be added, capping his district at 100.)
Of those 141 struggling schools, 60 are in metro Atlanta. With 27 schools on the list, APS has the highest number eligible for Opportunity District takeover. DeKalb County is next with 26; Fulton has seven and Clayton three. No schools from Cobb or Gwinnett are on the list.
The plan would empower the state to run these struggling schools, close them, partner with local school districts or convert them into charter schools. (Georgia law already allows them to become charter schools. APS has 17 charter schools. )
The Opportunity School District would be overseen by a new education czar who would report to the governor.
Deal’s plan hinges on recruiting a charismatic leader to pilot these schools to success. But Atlanta has already done that.
Atlanta Public Schools Superintendent Meria Carstarphen waves to spectators during the parade at the homecoming festivities at Booker T. Washington High School. HYOSUB SHIN / HSHIN@AJC.COM
And the woman only just arrived. The state ought to give Dr. Meria Carstarphen time to prove her mettle before it starts gathering up APS schools for its Opportunity District.
It makes no sense to put another high-salaried education leader on the APS case when the system has already hired a nationally recognized wunderkind to do the job.
How many visionary, six-figure-salaried leaders does a system of 56,000 students need? Atlanta doesn’t need another school chief for its under performing schools.
So who does need the state’s help? Districts in the far reaches of Georgia without the resources or location appeal of an Atlanta or a DeKalb.
Unfortunately, those remote systems are the least likely to benefit from an Opportunity District.
Over the years, I’ve talked to a half dozen bright young teachers who moved to NOLA to work in or lead the charter schools that arose from the devastation of Hurricane Katrina.
Each of those teachers cited two factors in their decision, the urge to be part of an education experiment never Experts: Hire committed and visionary leaders for recovery school district. Hasn’t Atlanta already done that? | Get Schooled:
Gov. Nathan Deal would create a statewide school district and give his office broad new powers to take over failing schools, under a plan unveiled Wednesday ahead of a likely contentious battle toward approval.
The plan, which can be found here, would allow the state to take control of failing schools, close them, partner with local school districts to run them or convert them into charter schools.
It would for the first time ever create a statewide “Opportunity School District” to oversee the program — led by a superintendent who would report directly to the governor and not the state education department.
“When we talk about helping failing schools, we’re talking about rescuing children,” Deal said. “I stand firm on the principle that every child can learn, and I stand equally firm in the belief that the status quo isn’t working.”
To determine which schools would be targeted, the plan defines “persistently failing schools” as those scoring below 60 for three years in a row on the College and Career Performance Index – which is essentially the state’s annual report card for school performance.
More than 140 schools, including at least a dozen in metro Atlanta, could be eligible — although annual enrollment would be limited to up to 20 schools a year.
“What is the definition of insanity? Continuing to do the same thing and expecting a different result,” said state Sen. Butch Miller, R-Gainesville, who will take a lead role carrying the legislation at the state Capitol. “It’s not a one-size-fits-all. You would have a different address, a different business plan for each individual school. And I would say to those educators who might push back and challenge this that, if they know what to do why aren’t they doing it?”
For Deal, it is his signature education proposal of the year, one that comes after weeks of quiet meetings with legislators who must overwhelming pass the initiative before it would be put to voters on the 2016 ballot.
That’s because Deal has framed it as a constitutional amendment, needing two-thirds support in each of the House and the Senate. Opposition, however, is already mounting.
“This is an educational mirage,” said Senate Minority Leader Steve Henson, D-Tucker. “Yes, we have a problem with failing schools and yes, we need to correct the problem.”
“But we don’t accomplish this by privatizing the public school system, denying equal education to all Georgia students and by refusing to address the fact that we have short-changed our state education system by $8 billion over the past 12 years,” Henson said.
Democrats are expected to unveil a counter-proposal as soon as next week.
The Opportunity School District would be capped at 100 overall. Schools would stay in the district for a minimum of five years and not more than 10 years. Those
http://www.ajc.com/news/news/georgia-unveils-statewide-plan-to-take-over-failin/nj8ph/