Secretary of Education Arne Duncan's Experience With Turn-Around Schools

I came across this recent N.Y. Times Article discussing the challenges of remaking struggling schools. Very interesting how Duncan turned schools around in Chicago.

From the article:

"The federal government lacks the authority to close schools, so Mr. Duncan’s first challenge is to persuade scores of local districts to begin school turnarounds that, judging from Chicago’s experience, will anger teachers, administrators, parents and local politicians. Another challenge will be recruiting the high-quality educators crucial to helping reconstituted schools succeed. Teachers union contracts could be another major hurdle."

"The Chicago contract gives tenured teachers in schools shut down for low performance 10 months to be rehired by their reconstituted school’s new leader or by another Chicago principal, after which they lose their job. (About 8 in 10 find jobs at other Chicago schools, Mr. Pickens said.) Contracts in many other cities give teachers who lose positions more extensive rights, which could make school makeovers harder, experts said."

Full article here