Friday, September 28, 2007
Misleading Headline
Today's Washington Post says that Allen Lew, the fellow overseeing DCPS school construction, told the D.C. Council that he needs the system's maintenance department to report to him so he can cut through the bureaucracy to fix facilities:
On second thought this whole exercise points to the problem of command and control systems of governance. Of course, no one can predict what the educational marketplace will look like in coming years. But if all of these DCPS schools were charters then the control of buildings could be continually shifted from those institutions that lost students to those that become more popular.
PermaLink | 5:54 AM |
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"The system is in gridlock and paralysis," Lew said.And while this is interesting information, more importantly at the same hearing Deputy Mayor of Education Victor Reinoso announced that the previously stated position of Miss Rhee that school closures would be placed on hold is not exactly correct:
"Do you plan to close schools before September of next year?" asked council member Tommy Wells (D-Ward 6) during the oversight roundtable.According to reporter Theola Labbe, the Brookings Institution, the Urban Institute, and the 21st Century Fund are working on a strategy as to what schools to close. I wonder if they are considering the idea that if DCPS improves students could move from charters back into traditional public schools?
"Yes," Reinoso said.
On second thought this whole exercise points to the problem of command and control systems of governance. Of course, no one can predict what the educational marketplace will look like in coming years. But if all of these DCPS schools were charters then the control of buildings could be continually shifted from those institutions that lost students to those that become more popular.
PermaLink | 5:54 AM |
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