I'm not talking about cheesesteaks, the love statue,?or Rocky.
Mastery Charter Schools, a network of charter turnarounds in Philadelphia known for their impressive achievement gains, will be taking on three new troubled schools (in addition the four they currently oversee). The announcement is exciting on several fronts.
Mastery is taking on a K-8 school (Harrity) and two K-5 elementary schools (Mann and Smedley) thus expanding its portfolio beyond middle and high schools and hopefully providing more on-the-ground evidence of what it takes to turn around low-performing elementary schools. Mastery schools ? several of which are veterans on New Leaders' EPIC winners list , an award that Fordham-sponsored Columbus Collegiate Academy won this year -? are acclaimed for dramatic student achievement gains and reductions in school violence.
Second, the impetus behind Mastery's acquisition is news worthy. The takeover is part of Philadelphia superintendent? Arlene Ackerman's district-wide plan to turnaround 35 of the city's lowest-performing schools. I know less about the other winning operators selected to takeover four other schools ? Universal Companies, Young Scholars Charter School, ASPIRA Inc., and Promise Academies?than I do about Mastery, but I'd assume that Philadelphia's worst schools can benefit from their management as well.
Ackerman's leadership in this endeavor is impressive, namely her willingness to partner with proven charter operators, waive schools identified for improvement from district regulations, having them implement a longer school day and year, new curriculum, etc.
In fact, Philadelphia's portfolio approach is hugely pertinent to what Cleveland Metropolitan Schools' superintendent Eugene Sanders has in mind for Cleveland, a city in many ways equally as troubled as the City of Brotherly Love. Sanders' district transformation plan includes shuttering 13 schools, relocating three, and overhauling another 22. Sanders also plans to work with charter operators to take on some of them ala portfolio-style management. In the meantime, Cleveland should do what it can create the conditions for turnaround success, such as by saving its most promising schools from seniority-based layoffs, ?fighting unionization of the city's charters, ?and evaluating whether any of the city's highest-performing charters could take on a similar Mastery-like takeover role.
- by Jamie Davies O'Leary
