The press conference on the report is just starting, but some quick reaction based on what was pre-released: Very interesting. Both pluses and minuses.
On the positive side, a serious call to chop the district down into smaller, more independent parts along with increasing public-private partnerships for new schools, including charter schools in that mix. Also a clear call for K-8 neighborhood schools along with more, smaller high schools. A fine start.
The negative? A poverty cap of 40 percent at each school — hard to see how you can square that with neighborhood schools. You would have to send the kids somewhere if you bust the cap.
And yet another call for more money for the poorest students. CMS already does this and has for years, to the tune of up to 30 percent more per pupil. This, and the call for more staffing, seem not to be aware of the CMS status quo. Equity Plus II schools already have lower classroom sizes built into their staffing assumptions. So it is unclear exactly what the task force means here. Should CMS spend $12,000 or $15,000 a year on the most at risk kids? At that level it would just be easier to pay for them to attend a private school.
But overall, some interesting ideas that require solid, continuing follow up.
