Honoring Our Contract: D.C.’s Effort to Ensure Equity in Public Education
When charter schools were first introduced as an alternative to the traditional school system, the promise was that high levels of autonomy and rigorous accountability would allow schools to produce exceptional results for the students they serve. Simply put: autonomy + accountability = results. Accountability for schools has historically been measured in terms of financial, […]
Black Education Leaders on Why Reformers Need an Attitude Adjustment
We recently invited Kenneth L. Campbell, Founding Board Member of the Black Alliance for Educational Options (BAEO), Tonya Allen, President and CEO of the Skillman Foundation in Detroit, and Raymond A. Jetson, Pastor at Star Hill Church in Baton Rouge and President/CEO of MetroMorphosis, to share their thoughts on education reform and community engagement. In […]
Agents of Change: The Portfolio Strategy CEO
Leaders of big-city portfolio strategies last longer on average than other school superintendents. But all eventually leave their jobs, whether for career or personal reasons or because local politics has turned against them. What makes for a successful portfolio strategy CEO? When city leaders need to find a CEO what should they look for? The […]
Tulsa: Emergent District-Charter Collaboration
Tulsa, which operates in a state not widely receptive to charter schools, has set a bold course of collaboration between the district and charter sectors. Following a difficult history that included anti-charter litigation in 2007 by Tulsa Public Schools, TPS and three district-authorized charter schools signed a District-Charter Collaboration Compact in January 2014. Superintendent Keith […]
What We’re Missing on Community Engagement
To wrap up our 2-day Portfolio Network Meeting in January, a meeting focused on good educational options and choices for all families, we asked Raymond Jetson to address these questions: “Why is community engagement not working? Why are families and communities unhappy with reformers’ efforts to improve low-performing schools?” Raymond A. Jetson is pastor at […]
Let’s Kill Innovation
In the past couple of years I’ve probably used the word “innovation” thousands of times and read or heard it thousands of times more. Naturally. I worked in an Office of Innovation (inside the Division of Talent, Labor and Innovation) running “Innovate NYC Schools” (Twitter handle @innovatenycedu), which was funded by a grant from the […]
Walking in Memphis: A Reality Check on Civil Rights and Education
As an education reporter, I frequently inserted this oft-uttered phrase into my articles: “Education is the civil rights issue of our time.” I did so because it is very difficult to engage readers, even parents, on education topics. There’s a dearth of education reporters and a tendency for education stories to focus on over-tested kids, […]
A Grand Bargain on Title I: Fulfilling the Promise
When the Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, Lamar Alexander (R-TN), recently released a draft bill to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (otherwise known as the No Child Left Behind Act), reaction was swift. At issue is the $14 billion in Title I funds—designed to drive extra money to […]
New Orleans: Special Education Solutions
While many charter school leaders across the country grapple with how to best provide and pay for special education, New Orleans recently became the first city in the nation to tackle special education on the fiscal, human capital, and program fronts in the context of a full-choice public education landscape. Over time, it may offer […]
What We Mean When We Talk About School Choice
Earlier this month, CRPE brought together 180 district and charter leaders from 30 cities around the country in Memphis for a meeting on school choice: “Good Options and Choices for All Families” was the theme, and is a major component of the portfolio strategy. We covered sessions on a number of issues related to choice—enrollment […]
