The Rochester school district can move forward with the University of Rochester to develop a plan to turn around troubled East High School. Rochester School Board President Van White received a letter today from State Education Deputy Commissioner Ken Slentz saying that the district now has until July 1, 2014, to submit a detailed plan explaining the UR’s role as an educational partner charged with reforming East. The original deadline was today, May 15.
The plan has to include a memorandum signed by the Rochester school board, UR, and representatives of the unions. The memorandum has to commit the district into entering into a contract with the UR as the educational partnership organization or EPO for East beginning with the 2015-2016 school year.
But Slentz’s letter also comes with a tough warning. Slentz states clearly that if all parties cannot reach an agreement and sign the memorandum or Commissioner King does not approve the plan submitted by July 1, district officials are ordered to begin notifying staff and parents that East will be phased out beginning September 2014, and not be permitted to enroll new students.
This article appears in May 14-20, 2014.
The Board should have known better. They must have thought that the U of R’s intent to “explore” helping would sway SED. That was a huge mistake. The commissioner and others in Albany look at things from a very wide lens and the idea that they would give the RCSD and the U of R many more months was insulting.
Now it is up to the Board and President White in particular to try to make the U of R’s “suggestion” into a real obligation. Have fun getting that to happen in 2 more weeks. Additionally, he needs to get the unions to agree to what was essentially a request to do whatever the U or R needed them to. Again, good luck.
The Board and Superintendent better get plan “B” polished because they will need it. There is no doubt that the U of R plan can’t come together in weeks. Without a serious plan “B” East will be gone. It is amazing that the board actually thought they had something to lean on.
I’m really disappointed in the media coverage of this UR project. Why does the UR not get the same level of scrutiny that the other bidder School Turnaround got? Double standard.
A couple of things missing from all media accounts, City’s especially:
-Warner needs cash. They’ve been on the chopping block off and on for decades. They only produced 40 teacher a year and rely heavily on alternative revenue from federal/state grants, lucrative professional development gigs. This East project is a matter of balancing their budget w/ tax dollars, not doing anything noble for Rochester’s kids.
-Despite receiving a ton of taxdollars, Warner has refused to be transparent about it’s teacher prep program in a national study of teacher prep quality. http://www.nctq.org/teacherPrep/findings/p…. What the study could glean: Warner’s program is not aligned with NYS’s new state standards. Not promising.
-Warner has a track record of dozens of projects in the district. Has anyone done any ROI analysis? Doubtful they can point to any student gains. Patronage, yes. School improvement, no.
-Warner faculty have become increasingly active in lobbying and political activity opposing the Regents agenda. Seems relevant, no? They oppose most of the key policies: standards & accountability, teacher evals, charters. REALLY makes me wonder if state ed did their homework before Ok’ing the plan. Talk about empowering your enemies.
Mark my words: when this partnership flops, Warner won’t be accountable to taxpayers, they’ll blame the Regents. That’s what ideologues do.
Partnering with the U of R frees East from the dysfunctional bureaucracy of CO and provides East with needed advisory support and the opportunity to transform itself. Once East proves that urban schools can turn themselves around – and into highly competitive high schools- with beautiful facilities, with sports and other after school opportunities that large suburban schools offer, there is no way charter schools will be able to compete- with their large class sizes and under paid/uncertified/inexperienced teachers and few extra curricular opportunities located in warehouse type facilities.
Susie R- Are there unicorns in your vision of UR’s management of East? That is the most utopian description of school turnaround I’ve ever read.
It’s way too simplistic to say that the failure at East is because of Central Office dysfunction. Don’t get me wrong, it’s bad, but it’s not everything. Keep in mind that schools have had the power to opt out of CO through the Living Contract provision. They just haven’t done it. It’s easier to blame the CO bogey man.
This UR takeover will be a rude awakening for the ivory tower-types who’ve confused theory with practice. And it will be painful for the rest of us to watch.
George- the person appointed from the U of R to lead the transformation of East High is not an ivory tower theorist- he is a former superintendent. City schools – including East – can benefit from outside leadership. If you read the initial proposed changes, you will see there are some simple fixes- control over scheduling, control over course offerings, control over summer school programs, control over disciplinary policies, etc. that will improve the quality of the educational programs. Schools like East have suffered because of Brizard’s failed initiatives such as no retention, no suspensions, no electives and no remedial programs. Because of Vargas’s initiatives to improve elementary programs, CC curricular changes, the addition of extra-curricular programs, and the school renovations, the assistance from the U of R is icing on the cake. Personally, I think the rude awakening is coming for the CO bureaucracy and charter schools – when East is able to transform itself. “Campus schools” have a tradition of excellence. A balance of theory and practice has proven to be a winning combination time and time again.