A Whole Lot of NYC

The 24 NYC “turn around” schools are still making headlines.  Principal Rosenbury (who was not replaced) describes the state of affairs inside her school. Her school, J.H.S. 22, has decided to move forward with new hiring decisions and changes to conditions even after the overall turnaround decision was reversed.  Building on the school’s capacity and changing conditions in the school’s environment and culture, Principal Rosenbury relied on input from teachers, parents, and students in her decisionmaking process.

Elsewhere in NYC, the city released its plans for turnaround in response to the judicial roadblock on earlier turnaround school plans.  We weighed in on the original plan that took away power from principals. Not the best way to create the right conditions and build capacity.

Further west in Indiana, a turnaround company turned to litigation with the Gary Community School Corporation after the district failed to supply it with the necessary student and school records.  The company is acting on behalf of the state Department of Education. Collaboration and transparency are key to turnaround, so we hope the company and the district can find themselves on the same page.

And NPR has the latest on the efforts of educators to turn around three Indianapolis schools.