After voters resoundingly rejected his Opportunity School District plan to take over failing schools, Gov. Nathan Deal said he expected districts to come up with their own blueprints to improve those low-scoring schools.
DeKalb says it has.
In a column on the Get Schooled blog, DeKalb Superintendent Steve Green says, "With a divisive political issue behind us, it's now time for Georgia leaders to address the real problems that stand in the schoolhouse door: Poverty. Broken homes. Discrimination. Unemployment. The usual socioeconomic suspects."
Green outlined a plan for the 26 DeKalb schools labeled as “failing” by the state based on standardized test scores. ” Of the 26 schools, 15 now test within five points of being removed from the target list. We allocated $6.9 million last year and $2 million this year to schools most at risk, with funding now focused on the 10 lowest-testing ones. (We call these Horizon schools, not ‘failing’ schools.) Our turnaround model is based on successful experiences in Kansas City and New York City,” he says.
To read the details of Green's plan, go to the AJC Get Schooled blog.
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