Getting better results from schools is the only way to assure that their communities will succeed as places. A new report offers several possible solutions.
The future of cities depends on better schools. Acknowledging the now vast array of worthwhile school improvement efforts, a growing number among school reformers say that, while committed to public education, they no longer believe that mandating performance change within the same system will prove sufficient. Twenty years of trying this is enough, say the advocates of this new perspective, insisting that our cities cannot get the schools we need for the 21st century by only concentrating on changing the ones we have. The case they make to civic leaders calls for an open sector, for new "organizational space," so that new schools emerge to provide choices and more doorsopen to innovation. Testimony from those in the vanguard suggests it's possible to do more thancreate a few new exceptional schools. They say this is the opportunity to reshape the "industry" ofschooling, to make teaching a true profession, to change the odds for kids not likely to succeed today.This paper explains the push for an "open sector," a subject examined in a panel and member discussion at the fall 2003 national meeting of CEOs for Cities. [Editor's note: The link below is to a 600 KB PDF document.]
Thanks to Chris Steins
FULL STORY: System Change Goes To School

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Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

The 120 Year Old Tiny Home Villages That Sheltered San Francisco’s Earthquake Refugees
More than a century ago, San Francisco mobilized to house thousands of residents displaced by the 1906 earthquake. Could their strategy offer a model for the present?

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Report: Zoning Reforms Should Complement Nashville’s Ambitious Transit Plan
Without reform, restrictive zoning codes will limit the impact of the city’s planned transit expansion and could exclude some of the residents who depend on transit the most.

Judge Orders Release of Frozen IRA, IIJA Funding
The decision is a victory for environmental groups who charged that freezing funds for critical infrastructure and disaster response programs caused “real and irreparable harm” to communities.
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