I wouldn’t have heard about this series of reports from NACSA’s if I wasn’t talking to a Chicago friend, but it surprises me that the report hasn’t gotten more attention, given the timeliness of its topic -- how to restructure low-performing public schools.
In essence, Starting Fresh is a how-to manual for districts outside Chicago that may want to close low performing neighborhood schools and open new charters -- based on Chicago’s experience both with charters and with Ren10, Chicago’s controversial school closing- and opening initiative.
Agree or disagree, it’s a series worth looking at, as is Chicago’s experience closing and reopening more schools than pretty much anyone in the nation.