HISD in the news
10 groups submit bids to manage 3 HISD schools:
The list of 10 groups that have submitted bids to manage three troubled Houston high schools includes private education companies, nonprofit organizations and current Houston Independent School District employees.
[snip]
The bidders include Kaplan K12 Learning Services, a New York City-based company best known for its standardized test preparation services. Kaplan was among several private companies recently given management control of schools in Philadelphia.
Other bids came from:
•EdFutures, a California-based charter school operator.
•Perceptiva Partners, an organization that listed a Houston phone number on its application. A phone call to the number was not returned Friday.
•A coalition of nonprofits headed by the Houston-based Knowledge is Power Program and YES College Preparatory Schools.
•Project GRAD, a local nonprofit organization already involved in about 70 HISD schools.
•The Beulah Land Community Development Center, a Third Ward group that volunteers in school literacy programs.
•HISD's Career and Technology Education Department, which oversees the school district's vocational programs.
•Current HISD leaders at Yates, Kashmere and Sam Houston.Parents and residents in the Yates and Kashmere communities have said they will oppose plans to turn the schools over to non-HISD management.
"We expect HISD to live up to its commitment to provide a quality education," said Bill Miller, president of the Yates Parent-Teacher-Student Association. "If they cannot provide a quality education, then maybe HISD needs to cease to exist."
Parents at Sam Houston support first-year Principal Aida Tello, but are open to any proposal that will improve the school, said Maria Garcia, a member of the Sam Houston Parent Involvement Committee.
"We're not saying we're against change. We're all for it," she said. "The Latino community of Sam Houston is tired of being put on the back burner, and we want to be heard."
The quote from Bill Miller is asinine, and as long as that attitude is prevalent at Yates, then Yates will continue to struggle. Maria Garcia's attitude, however, shows that Sam Houston will have a greater chance of success with a reform program.
In other HISD news, the board has approved several school closings:
The Houston Indepedent School District board met Thursday afternoon to talk about closing nine elementary schools. They ultimately decided that Argyle, Brock, Clinton Park, Douglass and Ryan elementary schools would be closed at the end of this school year and the students be transferred to other nearby schools.
"It is our job to provide the best education for kids that we possibly can," Dr. Saavedra said. "Unfortunately, the enrollment of these five schools is so small that they can't offer the full range of educational services that children need. We need to offer those kids more than they're getting now. This is an issue of educational effectiveness and efficiency."
Four of the five schools have experienced sharply declining enrollments as neighborhoods have changed. As families mature and leave school, and as others leave neighborhoods to move to other parts of the Houston area, school enrollments shift dramatically.
HISD Superintendent Abelardo Saavedra said after public hearings and further consideration, he will not recommend closing Isaacs Elementary, which had been on the original list of schools considered for closure.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 04/16/05 01:28 PM | Print |
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