Texas Public Schools are in the Portfolio District Crosshairs
Radical market theorists are reshaping Texas education governance by instituting the portfolio district school model. It is a scheme promoted by the University of Washington based think tank, Center on Reinventing Public Education (CRPE). To advance this design, the accountability system and justifications for closing public schools is adopted from Rahm Emanuel’s Chicago Public Schools. This top down plan is being guided by Mike Morath Commissioner of the Texas Education Agency (TEA).
A quick glance at the CRPE web site reveals they see Texas as a target of opportunity. It states,
“We’re currently working on:
Analyzing how state education agencies can support local leaders on the portfolio strategy, such as through the Texas Education Agency’s new System of Great Schools Network.”
Here are a few of the benefits that TEA claims for the System of Great Schools (SGS):
- “Membership in a professional learning community of superintendents and senior staff that come together regularly to build understanding of the SGS strategy, …”
- “Regular connection points with Commissioner Morath.”
- “The district increases access to school choice options and helps families identify and attend their best-fit school.”
The SGS web site offers a complex excel file that is a roadmap for implementing SGS strategies.
Image of SGS Roadmap Excel Page Labeled “Top 12 Deliverables”
The “School Performance Framework” hyperlink in the Excel sheet opens Chicago Public School’s “School Quality Ratings Policy (SQRP) Handbook.” Much of the “objective” justification used for closing 50 schools in Chicago in one year is in this handbook. Those 50 schools were almost all in predominantly CONTINUE READING: Texas Public Schools are in the Portfolio District Crosshairs | tultican
