Can Community Schools Dampen the School Takeover Fever?
The Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University and the Southern Education Foundation (SEF) released a new report on Dec. 17 that makes a strong case for collaborative, grassroots efforts to help turn around struggling schools.“Investing in What Works: Community-Driven Strategies for Strong Public Schools”points to examples of public schools that have improved student outcomes by becoming the center of a community while denouncing reforms that undermine local authority, such as school takeovers.
At the crux of the report is Georgia. In February, the state legislature passed Senate Bill 133 to create a state-run system—dubbed “Opportunity School District (OSD)”—that would control some of Georgia’s lowest-performing schools. One indicator would measure these schools: the College and Career Readiness Performance Index (CCRPI). If a school falls below 60 points of the CCRPI, it would be removed from local authority. Today, there are 137 schools statewide that would meet the proposed requirements of Senate Bill 133.
Georgia’s proposal mimics the misguided school reform efforts found in Louisiana, Michigan, and Tennessee, which usurp local control as a way to transform struggling schools. Some of these strategies include charter conversion, indiscriminate staff and leadership removal, or school closures. According to Annenberg and SEF, the takeover models of Louisiana, Michigan, and Tennessee have neither shown continuous nor sweeping improvements in student outcomes.
“These state takeover districts have failed to consistently improve student outcomes, and failed to engage (and invest) communities and educators in any kind of visionary transformation that is needed in our public schools,” the report states. “Without such investment, even initial academic results will falter.” It goes on to say that these initiatives have created “bad will in the communities and schools that have been targeted by them.”
Tennessee’s Achievement School District (ASD), for example, was cited in the report for turning 18 of the 23 takeover schools into charters. Academic performance in most of the ASD schools has shown mixed results—and even some decline. Parent frustration has become an issue,
Chris Caldwell, a member of the Shelby County (Tennessee) School Board told theCommercial Appeal, “The way that (ASD) was implemented, it gave the families a feeling that they were being punished or isolated from the rest of the school system because of the performance of the school.”
If the Georgia legislation passes, Governor Nathan Deal would appoint an OSD superintendent who could enforce one of four interventions: direct management by Can Community Schools Dampen the School Takeover Fever? - NEA Today: