Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Education / Woods Does 'First to the Top Act' Set Up Mayor's School Takeover?
Posted by Jeff Woods on Wed, Jan 20, 2010 at 10:36 AM
(b) The commissioner shall have the authority to contract with one or more individuals, governmental entities or nonprofit entities to manage the day to day operations of any or all schools or LEAs placed in the achievement school district, including, but not limited to providing direct services to students.Dean certainly seems to qualify here as someone who could contract with the commissioner. He's definitely an individual and he works for a governmental entity. Nashville Jeff sees some deal-making in the mayor's immediate future:
Recall that our own Mayor, Karl Dean, was reportedly keenly interested in taking over MNPS (with the support of Governor Bredesen) if it failed to meet AYP this year (also remember that MNPS isn't out of the woods yet). Mayor Dean might fall under the "governmental entit[y]" provision, or he might not. If he doesn't, then the "individual[]" certainly will give the Commissioner that option. I wouldn't be surprised if we see some deal-making this summer and Dean takes control of a school or two in Nashville in the next year or two. But that's just a guess -- we'll see.
Comments (2)
Showing 1-2 of 2
Kent Coleman (D-Murfreesboro) was one of only 8 reps (all democrats) to stand against this ridiculous legislation. Here is video of Coleman standing up to his own Party leadership and the entire Republican caucus on the House floor last Friday night:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpZcy6BwTEw
like
dislike
Is there anybody who actually believes Dean will be more successful with these schools? The problem isn't the schools, per se. The problem is the 500 pound gorilla that no one wants to talk about- poverty. It's a lot easier to teach a kid from a rich area who comes from a stable home, gets enough to eat, gets help at home for homework, etc. No Child Left Behind is failing our urban schools and the teachers who have enough idealism to try to teach in them.
Something needs to be done, but the Mayor taking over "failing schools" doesn't seem to be the answer, IMHO.
