State, District Leaders Press School Transformations

Spurred both by fiscal realities and momentum from the U.S. Department of Education’s agenda for school improvement, local and state education leaders are moving forcefully and quickly to make big changes to districts and schools that have long struggled with low test scores and graduation rates.

In Kansas City, Mo., the school board voted last week to “right-size” the district by closing 26 of the system’s 61 schools. In addition, the 17,000-student district plans to close its central office and two other buildings.

“We can’t continue to have a public school system that has proven to fail children year after year after year,” Superintendent John W. Covington said in an interview. The goal, he said, is to create a system that produces graduates who will be “fierce competitors”...