Behind the Headline: More choices for Baltimore 8th graders

By Education Next 01/04/2010

On Top of the News
More choices for Baltimore 8th graders
01/03/10 | The Baltimore Sun

Behind the Headline
Wave of the Future
Winter 2008 | Education Next

Baltimore has ended the practice of assigning students to high schools based on where they live. Eighth graders now choose from among 4 dozen schools, which include “innovation” schools run by outside operators, vocational schools, and selective schools. Schools that used to be neighborhood high schools are now open to any student in the city, and many have been carved into smaller schools. “The goal is to have a portfolio of schools that provide different options to every student in the city,” says superintendent Andres Alonso. An article by Andy Smarick published by Education Next in 2008 called for urban school districts to oversee portfolios of charter (or charter-like) schools instead of running all district schools themselves. (As Andy noted in the article, “The “every school a charter school” idea is not new; others, most prominently Paul Hill of the Center on Reinventing Public Education, have been writing variations on this theme for some time.”)

HT:  Flypaper