D.C. Chancellor Kaya Henderson is set to decide how many public schools to close.
A D.C. teacher and blogger reviews the shifting rationales for closing public schools.
A public school closes if enrollment falls below 350. But more than 70% of charter schools have less than 350 students, and some have less than 50 students, and they are not on the chopping block. Why the double standard?
She writes:
“There are many parents who are attracted to charter schools precisely because of their small size. They feel that not only is it safer, but that their children will be in a school where they will get more individualized attention. Since all of the schools on the proposed closure list have a large percentage of high needs students, doesn’t it make sense that these schools remain small learning environments that can offer class sizes of 12 to 15 students? This would not only attract families, it would dramatically improve the teachers’ ability to effectively address the needs of all students.”
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Kaya Henderson has made her final decision, 15 schools will close 5 less then originally proposed. The 2 schools in the more affluent Ward of the city have come off, the remaining schools to be closed are in neighborhoods with higher percentages of African-Americans and with higher percentages of people living in poverty. These closures are unjust and discriminatory. One of the schools that will remain open is going to be co-located with a “high performing charter” which the chancellor will not name at this time. City residents who are unhappy with these decisions plan on rallying at her home tonight!
LikeLike
If the overall school capacity is being shifted geographically away from the gegraphical nexus of the poor people, that sounds like discimination. They will be burdened with more travel time to go to school.
LikeLike
And the latest from DC and DCPS. I can’t say I’m surprised, but I am disgusted.
15 DC Schools to Close
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/chancellor-kaya-henderson-names-15-dc-schools-on-closure-list/2013/01/17/e04202fa-6023-11e2-9940-6fc488f3fecd_story.html?wpisrc=al_locmisc
School Closings Unlikely to Save Money
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/report-says-dc-school-closures-unlikely-to-save-much-money-in-2013-14/2013/01/14/abdebcbc-5e5f-11e2-9940-6fc488f3fecd_story.html
Georgetown University – Master’s Program for DC Principals
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/dc-principals-georgetown-launch-leadership-program/2013/01/16/793e7212-6002-11e2-9940-6fc488f3fecd_story.html
LikeLike
No amount of gibberish will dispute the fact that public schools could also have smaller class sizes.
The primary difference between the business model, as implemented in public education, and real world markets is that corporate sponsored “reformers” who are leading the public schools, such as those in mayoral controlled cities, have no intention of competing against charter schools. Instead, they serve as advertisers for “the competition”. They are like McDonald’s throwing in the towel and telling customers, “Here’s a coupon for Wendy’s. Their food tastes much better than ours and we can’t improve our product.”
If that isn’t the signal of a “Going Out of Business Sale,” I don’t know what is.
LikeLike
Chicago will not be shutting down very many public high schools because students might have to travel further in crime ridden portions of the city and could get killed. Better to leave them in poor school settings than to risk them having to walk the streets of Chicago.
LikeLike
No mention of the vile unions? Vete, hijito/a, vete.
LikeLike
“risk them having to walk the streets of Chicago” in their highly segregated low-income neighborhoods on the South Side and the West Side.
I live in an integrated middle income neighborhood and students don’t face the same high risks traveling to my area high school as those kids do. But nearly all of the schools slated for closure have been and continue to be on the South Side and West Side. And that’s just next years’ closings –the moratorium does not negate the possibility of closing more schools with low test scores. Yet, there are no plans to provide the needed resources that might help under-resourced schools succeed nor programs for mediating out-of-school factors.
LikeLike
This is just a guess, but perhaps some of the charters are in buildings designed for fewer students and thus have a lower fixed cost. There may also be more flexability in staffing.
LikeLike
Give the Chancellor hell! Protest! Write letters! Protest! This is so blatantly wrong on SO many levels. Empower DC, you have it right.
In a time of universal deceit – telling the truth is a revolutionary act. George Orwell
LikeLike