Cincinnati Business Group Urges 'Mini-District'To Drive Reforms

By Lynn Olson

The Cincinnati public schools should create a pilot "mini-district," separate from the rest of the school system, to drive education reform, according to a report by members of the city's business community.

The report, issued last month by a volunteer task force known as the Buenger Commission, describes the school system as "plagued with problems." It cites "political discord, inefficient management, antiquated systems, and an administrative structure that has the tendency to maintain the status quo."

To address such problems, it advocates creating a system of school based management, streamlining and decentralizing the central administration, upgrading the district's infrastructure, and providing incentive pay for...