Under the leadership of CEO Andrés Alonso, Baltimore City Public Schools (City Schools) has come a long way over the last five years in terms of improving student achievement, granting schools more autonomy, and creating an environment friendly to innovators and new school providers.
This case study of the implementation of City Schools’ portfolio strategy explores how the district’s reform work aligns with CRPE’s definition of the portfolio strategy and how it compares to the approaches taken in other districts. The report highlights several areas where BCPS has been among the leading portfolio districts, and concludes with detailed recommendations in three policy areas—school closure, autonomy, and accountability—that the author believes are critical as the district moves into the next phase of portfolio reform.
