Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson's ambitious school reform plan includes many bold changes to how education works in that city, including the creation of a "Transformation Alliance" empowered to veto proposed start-up charter schools that don’t meet its standards for quality. Today, on the Ohio Gadfly Daily blog, Fordham VP for Ohio Policy and Programs Terry Ryan announced that the organization would be willing to pilot a vetting process led by the Transformation Alliance.
Terry explains,
we have doubts about the proposed Transformation Alliance and the scope of its authority, we fully understand, appreciate, and share Mayor Jackson’s frustration with the current system of charter school quality control in his city, and indeed across the state. We believe the charter community has a responsibility to offer the mayor and the city of Cleveland a workable solution to a real problem.
As a result,
Fordham—which expects to authorize one school in Cleveland in 2012-13—would willingly be the first to go through a vetting process led by the Transformation Alliance. We would see this as an opportunity to partner with the mayor and the Cleveland school district in working to create more and better school options for children and families who badly need them. Maybe together we can help Cleveland reverse its decline, while giving children and families better school choices.
Be sure to give the full post a read.
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