tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-382193766663573034.post7871884370136081098..comments2023-10-26T06:28:00.412-04:00Comments on I Wish This Blog Was Louder: Detroit News seen mumbling incoherently to self about charter schools, many worry if sanity has slipped away forever.Ship of Goldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02369179500110693592noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-382193766663573034.post-44414970623777995082007-09-13T12:11:00.000-04:002007-09-13T12:11:00.000-04:00There are many answers to mismanagement. But basic...There are many answers to mismanagement. <BR/><BR/>But basic structural change is needed not just in urban schools, but across the state. Michigan's school district structure is antiquated and based upon history and geography. <BR/><BR/>Right sizing school districts would be a good start in dealing with the state's built in inequities in funding. <BR/><BR/>Michigan's school districts are predominately either too small or too large. In Detroit, the school district is too large to manage effectively. <BR/><BR/>Although some charter schools are effective, especially if they attract the best and brightest students, they are not the answer as you pointed out. <BR/><BR/>Consolidation of small school districts in rural areas and decentralizing school districts in some urban areas would open the doors to millions in savings that could be directed to those children in need of a high level of intervention to succeed. <BR/><BR/>If there is a courageous politician willing to propose such a solution, it would be a miracle.<BR/><BR/>The solutions are obvious, but the political will is lacking. <BR/><BR/>Simply put, Michigan needs to redirect its resources from administration into the classroom. <BR/>There are simply not 552 excellent school administrators in Michigan, but there are that many school districts. Many states Michigan's size have far fewer school districts and are run more effectively than Detroit's public schools. <BR/><BR/>But even the nation's best managers could not be effective in Detroit without adequate resources in a structure that lends itself to management failure. <BR/><BR/>When the state and federal government base funding on each pupil equally it does a huge injustice to poor and urban schools. Only special education students receive more per pupil funds to meet some, but not all of their more demanding educational needs. Special ed has been historically underfunded, however. <BR/><BR/>Schools in poor and educationally challenged neighborhoods should receive a much higher level of funding in order to provide them with the same kind of opportunity that rich suburban schools already have. <BR/><BR/>No Child Left Behind, without adequate funding for poor schools, is an outrage. It is akin to kicking a wounded animal. <BR/><BR/>Schools can not pull themselves up by the bootstraps, if they have no boots.<BR/><BR/>Truly exceptional leaders on rare occasions may perform miracles in some of the nations worst schools. But cloning those rare leaders is not the answer. <BR/><BR/>Poor children should not suffer because their state's leaders lack the political will to effectively manage their schools and allocate resources where needed and provide a state school structure that makes sense in today's world.John B.https://www.blogger.com/profile/16868953962822107356noreply@blogger.com