APS schools chief: Failure goes further than targeted schools

Sixty percent of APS schools “are at super high risk” for state takeover says Meria Carstarphen


? If part of the point of Gov. Nathan Deal’s plan to take over failing schools was to create a weapon that could cause change without even being fired, it appears to be working in Atlanta.
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? Twenty-six Atlanta schools have done badly enough for long enough that they would be targets for state takeover if Deal’s “Opportunity School District” plan were already on the books.
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? So Atlanta Public Schools is working on ways to improve now, Superintendent Meria Carstarphen told a public meeting on Tuesday night.
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? “While yes I agree that the Opportunity School District and the 26 schools are important, what we’ve learned in the analysis of our data is that it’s far bigger than that,” she said in front of more than 100 people at APS’ Downtown headquarters.
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? “Over 60 percent of our schools are at super high risk of being eligible under this definition of the Opportunity School District,” she said. That’s out of 81 possible schools. (Charters and non-traditional schools would be exempt from the law.)
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???? Deal’s plan defines failure as three years scoring below a 60 on the College and Career Ready Performance Index. That index is a scorecard that takes into account student performance and a school’s ability to close performance gaps, among other things. Any school that fails would be subject to state control for between five and 10 years. The state would either run the school itself for that time, run it in partnership with the local school board, turn it over to a charter organization, or, as a last resort, close it permanently. The list of takeover eligible-schools would depend on their scores starting this school year, but going by old data as a proxy, Deal’s list included 27 Atlanta schools.
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? The plan still needs statewide voter approval in November 2016. If it passes, the state would start deciding which schools to take over. 
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? The Republican governor has said his aim is to remedy failing schools by bringing in education experts, ensuring better governance, and implementing best practices. “The children trapped in these schools can’t wait,” Deal said in a written statement in March, as the bill was moving through the Legislature. The bill barely got the two-thirds majority needed in the state Legislature and passed roughly along party lines.
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? In general, Democrats and school boards have been skeptical that the state could do a better job running schools than locals. They also say the GOP-led state is not spending enough cash on K-12 in the first place. State control of a school would also come with state control of the local cash spent on that school, a pot of money locals are used to controlling. But APS Board Chairman Courtney English told the AJC he won’t be campaigning against OSD, but rather campaigning for better Atlanta schools.
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? So far, APS has tapped the Boston Consulting Group and former Deal education advisor Erin Hames to figure out fixes.
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? Carstarphen outlined some of the “major themes” to come out of the look into APS’ problems so far: APS needs a strategy to attract and retain good teachers and figure out how to improve ones who aren’t measuring up. In addition, APS leadership isn’t necessarily equipped with turnaround expertise. And there are socio-economic factors such as homelessness, hunger, and mental health issues, among others, that impact students’ abilities to show up ready to learn.
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? Many of the public questions at the meeting conveyed frustration with APS, from the system’s past actions, to communication and meaningful parental involvement.
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? Carstarphen, superintendent since last July, said she inherited a shelf full of studies and consultants’ reports that have not been implemented.
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? Shawanna Hayes-Tavares, mother of two North Atlanta High School students said she wants to be optimistic that things will improve.
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? “Of course I want it to be different. My experience for the last 18 years is that it won’t be different,” she said.
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? Hayes-Tavares said she has moved her children among many APS schools, searching for the best programs. She’s also part of the Neighborhood Collaborative Group, a coalition of stakeholders that asked APS to hold an OSD update meeting.
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? She said the school system already spends big bucks on parent engagement and on teacher training.
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? “Those things are not new concepts … to me as a parent who’s been here for a long time the frustrating piece is were still saying the same things without really talking about how we’re going to get there how we’re going to hold everybody accountable and what we’re going to do if they’re not doing what they’re supposed to do,” said Hayes-Tavares.