Many of Chicago’s newly created public schools will have more flexibility and autonomy in budgeting, setting the length of the school day and establishing curriculum and staffing, according to a working draft of the Renaissance 2010 plan released Monday.
The plan is the nine-page blueprint for opening 100 new city schools over the next six years.
The proposal defines the three types of schools that will be created under the plan announced in June by Mayor Richard Daley: one-third charter schools, one-third contract schools, and one third district-run small schools, called performance schools in the policy.
Not all these new schools will be neighborhood schools, however, district officials now say. There will also be a limited number of magnet and selective enrollment schools under the Renaissance plan.
The policy states that children who attended schools that were closed for poor performance will be guaranteed a spot when their revamped neighborhood school opens.
The plan also allows for greater flexibility and innovation in how the schools are run. According to the document, each school will have its own agreement on how much autonomy it will have.
Like charter schools, contract schools and small performance schools will be tied to a five-year performance plan. A school can be closed at any time if it is not performing well, according to the policy’s accountability standards.
The new plan will give schools flexibility in whether they will be run by local school councils, a provision some activists say weakens the councils’ role.
Schools chief Arne Duncan has publicly stated that local school councils are not the best fit for every school. But Lisa Scruggs, a local attorney and charter school founder hired to help develop the new schools, insists the district is “absolutely neutral” in regards to school governance.
“We want to create and stimulate the creation of good schools for all of our communities in Chicago,” said Scruggs, an attorney with the law firm of Jenner and Block who took a two-year consulting contract with the school district. “[There is] no preference for one government over another.”
Scruggs said school leaders will decide how the school will be governed and that based on input from the community, a requirement was added to the policy that mandates that a majority of the individuals on the governing board be from the Chicago area.
But Don Moore, a longtime education activist, argued that the policy takes the district back to 1988 before the reform law that established local school councils.
The councils consist of six parents, two community members, two teachers and the principal. In high school, there is a student representative.
Moore says this new policy is not fair to parents and community members.
“The right of the families is left to the discretion of the school operators,” he said. “It’s not a matter of choice. There is no recourse [for parents].”
The policy will become available on the Internet Tuesday, and public hearings on it will take place Wednesday and Thursday in the school district’s administrative offices downtown.
