CQ reported today that Chairman Miller plans to, “hold a hearing this fall to probe companies that contract with school districts to improve failing schools.” Miller issued a statement on the issue yesterday:
Turning around under-performing and failing schools is one of the objectives of the committee’s bipartisan rewrite of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (currently known as NCLB). Miller chaired a hearing on successful school turnaround in May and made the importance of the issue clear, saying to his fellow committee members:
Turning around chronically under-performing schools can have significant impact on local communities, and many private companies have begun offering turnaround services to school districts. But, a recent New York Times investigation revealed that some of these companies lack the necessary experience to effectively overhaul a failing school:
“…with increased focus on school reform under this administration, it seems some companies with little or no expertise in education are purporting to be experts in school turnaround to try and take advantage of available federal money. Companies who are hired to help turn around schools as partners should have the best expertise and the best qualifications. I plan to hold a hearing and use the committee’s oversight authority to investigate the process of hiring providers to help turn around schools.”
Turning around under-performing and failing schools is one of the objectives of the committee’s bipartisan rewrite of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (currently known as NCLB). Miller chaired a hearing on successful school turnaround in May and made the importance of the issue clear, saying to his fellow committee members:
“There are 5,000 chronically low-performing schools in this country doing a disservice to
hundreds of thousands of students.
“Two thousand high schools produce 70 percent of our nation’s dropouts.”
Turning around chronically under-performing schools can have significant impact on local communities, and many private companies have begun offering turnaround services to school districts. But, a recent New York Times investigation revealed that some of these companies lack the necessary experience to effectively overhaul a failing school:
“With the Obama administration pouring billions into its nationwide campaign to overhaul failing schools, dozens of companies with little or no experience are portraying themselves as school-turnaround experts as they compete for the money.”
…
“Many of the new companies seem unprepared for the challenge of making over a public school, yet neither the federal government nor many state governments are organized to offer effective oversight, said Jack Jennings, president of the Center on Education Policy, a nonprofit group in Washington.”
