RIGHT DIRECTION:

Chicago to ‘Start Over’ With 100 Small Schools (Catherine Gewertz, 7/14/04, Ed Week)

Chicago is embarking on a major initiative to convert at least 10 percent of its schools into small schools, most of which will be run by private operators. The controversial move expands the city’s role in the vanguard of districts experimenting with alternative school arrangements.

Respond to this article! Underscoring the significance of the plan, Mayor Richard M. Daley unveiled it himself, flanked by leaders in business, education, philanthropy, and community activism. Mr. Daley has been in charge of the nation’s third-largest school system since 1995, when a state law handed the mayor control.

Mr. Daley portrayed his plan, called Renaissance 2010, as a way to "shake up the system," introduce fresh ideas that could save its lowest-performing schools, and provide more options for families and more personalized learning environments for students.

"We must face the reality that, for schools that have consistently underperformed, it’s time to start over," the mayor said in announcing the plan on June 24.

The blueprint employs a variety of approaches that the Chicago public schools have been trying on a smaller scale. The district has opened new small schools and broken large ones into smaller schools-within-schools. It has reconstituted underperforming schools with new personnel. Seventeen charter schools operate there, and seven schools are run by outside groups under contracts with the district.

Renaissance 2010 would close up to 20 high schools and 40 to 50 elementary schools, reopening them as 100 or more small schools within six years. One-third of the new schools will be charter schools, double the current number. One-third will be operated under contracts, a fivefold increase. One-third will be operated by the district. Chicago currently has about 600 schools.

Who will tell the Democrats in Washington?

Posted by Orrin Judd at July 14, 2004 8:38 AM