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School’s supporters surprised by phase-out plan
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D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee’s plan to change 27 city schools has been generally well-received, but some are surprised by the decision to phase out Eastern Senior High. – Andrew Harnik/Examiner file D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee’s decision to phase out Eastern Senior High surprised parents and teachers who spent months solidifying a plan to turn around the underperforming campus using a well-regarded Johns Hopkins University program. The move is perhaps the most unexpected in Rhee’s generally well-received plan for 27 city schools that must undergo radical change due to poor performance under the No Child Left Behind Act. Of the 10 affected high schools, four will get external partners; eight will get new teachers, principals or both; and two will receive customized improvement plans. Eastern’s future, though, looks far different. According to documents detailing Rhee’s vision, the chancellor will remove the Capitol Hill school’s popular principal and will not allow the school to accept incoming freshmen next year so as to “phase out” the current Eastern program over three years. By 2011, school officials will reopen Eastern, but potentially in a different building and with entirely new staff so that the new program in no way resembles the current one. Such prospects are disappointing to stakeholders who supported a plan to have Johns Hopkins-based Talent Development Corporation take over, they told The Examiner. PTA President John Gibson said Talent’s focus on attendance and family involvement fit well with the school, and parents and teachers had developed plans with the company. “I’m bewildered,” said Gibson. “Rhee is talking about assembling a group to redesign the school, but that’s exactly what we’ve been doing.” Talent’s model includes extended learning periods as well as career academies to enhance college preparation. Rhee spokeswoman Jennifer Calloway said Rhee is working to build a “more dynamic high school.” Mary Maushard, a spokeswoman for Talent, said the group thought Eastern would be a good match with Talent and was willing and able to execute its program there. Rhee has not yet made public the names of the private companies that will sign contracts to run five of the failing schools so it’s unknown whether Talent’s services will be requested for a different school. “We would really like to have a place in D.C.’s school reform, but we simply don’t know what’s going on,” Maushard said. dlevitz@dcexaminer.com |