Rhee Wants School to Serve as 'Differentiated Learning' Lab

And with Rhee seeking to hire private schools to run the programs, Jones said the proposal could increase expenses instead of reducing them.

"Contracting with a [private] school to run it -- that's going to cost money," Jones said. "I don't know whether they're going to get the savings they're looking for."

Rhee is seeking a private school for the West program because the D.C. public school system does not have the capacity to run it, according to the chancellor's spokeswoman, Mafara Hobson. Rhee said she has not determined how much the system would pay the private school or how much the approach would save in special education costs.

In addition to her West proposal, Rhee is expanding a program that provides early intervention for students having academic troubles so that they won't have to go into special education. And she is introducing $6 million in new spending for more mental health programs and more nationally recognized models for addressing disabilities, part of an agreement stemming from the federal court order.

Hobson said Rhee is considering Kingsbury Day School to run the program at West. Kingsbury, on 14th Street NW, has served children and adults with learning disabilities and differences since 1938. Some parents and teachers who recently met with Rhee said she told them that Kingsbury withdrew because it has no expertise with regular and gifted students. Eric M. Isselhardt, the school's chief executive, did not return phone calls seeking comment.

Rhee said her aim, in addition to improving special education programs, is to draw more students to West, boosting its enrollment from 190 to its capacity of 280 and adding grades seven and eight. Parents and teachers at West said Rhee told them at the recent meeting that the school would close if a partner is not found.

The contractor or contractors selected for West and other schools, she said, would determine whether the program would be used in a few classrooms or the entire building. She said she would use much of the current teaching staff at West, as well as others with expertise in educating disabled students in regular classrooms.

"Teachers and principals from across the city would be able to come in, get professional development and be able to go out to their schools and utilize the best practices in their own classrooms," Rhee said.

Sherilyn Pruitt, who has two children at West, said she thinks the proposal is an innovative way to keep the school open, although she said other parents are concerned that the school could become too focused on special education and that students with behavior problems would be "dumped" there.

"The fact that classes are going to . . . have extra resources for [learning disabled] and gifted students -- I'm hopeful it will be good," she said.