Bryan Hassel, Valaida Fullwood, and Michelle Godard Terrell, Public Impact
January 2004
Facilities Financing: New Models for Districts that are Creating Schools New
Bryan Hassel, Katie Walter Esser, Public Impact
February 2004
These two reports, released earlier this year by Public Impact for Education/Evolving, discuss a "new schools reform strategy." "New schools" are defined as the "assortment of high-quality innovative public schools that are now being launched to serve the diverse educational needs of public school students." They can include charter schools as well as pilot, magnet, and community schools. How District Leaders Can Support the New Schools Strategy describes how school districts in seven cities implemented proactive strategies to start new, smaller schools more tailored to the needs of their students. Based on case studies of alternative schools in places like Baltimore, it advocates making the new schools strategy integral to a district's reform agenda, allocating a fair share of resources, establishing enforceable performance contracts between district and schools, and creating boards that use both district and community leaders to make the new schools initiatives work. The case studies are solid and reinforce the belief that new schools should emphasize both accountability and autonomy. Facilities Financing focuses more on innovative ways whereby school districts can obtain the funding to develop better buildings for new schools, whether via new facilities or renovation. Among the recommendations: tapping public-private partnerships or employer-based schools; rethinking the use of traditional facilities, including ideas like space-sharing and programs that don't require classrooms (e.g. distance learning); and establishing trusts to manage schools' real estate functions. Good advice, worth being heeded by more school systems. To read both reports, visit http://www.educationevolving.org/good_reading.asp.