CHEERS
Leadership Preparatory Charter School, a K–8 school in Memphis, partnered with Teach Like a Champion to create an adapted math program that better served students struggling post-pandemic. Valissia Allen, the school’s founder, calls the arrangement “teacher autonomy with guardrails,” with teachers following the state-approved curriculum but gaining flexibility in how to deliver materials in their classrooms. Bri Hatch reports on the school’s success, where “nearly 44 percent of students scored as proficient on state standardized math tests—up over 20 percentage points from 2021.” Across the city, charter school students are recovering faster than their traditional district school peers, surpassing pre-pandemic levels last year.
JEERS
“The City of Cleveland is asking developers and other organizations to propose plans for a dozen buildings the school district is shuttering at the end of this month,” reports Franziska Wild for Signal Cleveland. This despite the law requiring that former schools be offered to charter schools that need the space.
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Jason Gonzales reports on what went wrong with an apprenticeship program in Colorado and why it’s so hard to make such programs work. “Ten years in, CareerWise offers an important case study in the challenges of offering robust on-the-job training for high school students,” he writes. It’s “an idea that has widespread bipartisan support and increasing investment from the public and private sectors but can be difficult to execute on a large scale.” Hurdles include hesitation from parents, competition from other opportunities, and unstable business participation.
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New York Governor Kathy Hochul caved to union pressure on pensions, lowering both the retirement age for teachers and their required contributions. The Washington Post‘s Editorial Board points out that the estimated $557 million in additional annual costs stemming from the deal leaves state and local governments paying for the priorities of special interests, money that could otherwise be used to support kids.
Editor's note: This was first published on Mike Petrilli's Substack, SCHOOLED, a twice-weekly free Substack and email newsletter restarting the education-reform conversation.
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Sharp analysis of the week’s biggest K–12 debates
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Curated commentary from across the ed-policy world
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Lively discussion—including reader reactions and pushback
