The education consulting group CEE-Trust (Cities for Education Entrepreneurship Trust) presented a proposal Monday afternoon to restructure Kansas City Public Schools. The consultants recommended a small, state-run district office which would set up and monitor a network of largely autonomous non-profit schools.
These schools could be started and operated by current school administrators and teachers, local non-profits, or surrounding districts.
Existing high-performing schools, like Lincoln College Preparatory Academy and Académie Lafayette, could make the transition to the new system. Existing schools that are underperforming will be phased out.
CEE-Trust director Ethan Gray writes that the concept is based on the success that some schools around the country are achieving in educating low-income children, when they are given more autonomy.
“Individual urban schools in America are achieving incredible results for students from low-income communities,” wrote Gray. “But no urban school systems are achieving incredible results for all – or even most – children in an entire city.”
According to CEE-Trust, these non-profit schools are not “charter schools” because they would still be accountable to a district office, called the "Community Schools Office," and not directly to the state.
This agency would be led by an executive director (instead of a superintendent), who would be appointed by the state, and the advice of a community advisory board, also appointed by the state.
You can read the executive summary here.
Guest:
- Ethan Gray, Executive Director at CEE-Trust
