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If Fenty Gets the Schools, Does He Have a Plan?
· Address the issue of standards and training of teaching staff on content and use.
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· Address professional development.
· Have a mechanism for getting reforms into the classroom.
· Have a stated strategy for addressing the lowest-performing schools.
That's for starters.
The analysis concluded that Fenty's plan, rather than reducing decision-making layers, makes decision-making more top-heavy and harder to coordinate. It suggests that Fenty's plan lacks a clear vision about the direction of the school system and that it actually relies on Janey's master education plan and other school system special education plans. It also charges that Fenty's proposal to give the D.C. Council line-item authority over the budget will only worsen an already cumbersome process.
Finally, the council criticizes Fenty as not presenting a specific plan of action.
I presented these criticisms to the mayor and Reinoso by e-mail and received a response (also available online) the following day.
Fenty said he didn't believe that specific student performance targets or academic achievement benchmarks should be legislated. He rejected criticism of his proposed decision-making process.
There's no disagreement on the list of student performance issues that need to be addressed, Fenty said. "What has been missing is implementation, and, specifically, the accelerated implementation that responds to the urgency our students, parents, community members . . . feel when we think about our public schools."
Fenty wrote that under his plan, he is the "one person ultimately held accountable for whether our children are receiving a quality education" and said the structure he proposes "takes a comprehensive approach at establishing a framework by which the Mayor can effect change."
Y'all get that?
Clifford Janey, pack your bags.
