School Turnarounds: Felicitous or Futile?

By Education Next 02/03/2010

Should failing schools be fixed or closed?

In Winter 2009, Ed Next published “The Big U-Turn: How to bring schools from the brink of doom to stellar success,” by Bryan Hassel and Emily Ayscue Hassel. Then in Winter 2010, we published “The Turnaround Fallacy: Stop trying to fix failing schools. Close them and start fresh,” by Andy Smarick.

Last week, Ed Next and the Fordham Institute brought the authors together for a debate: “School Turnarounds: Exciting and Felicitous or Expensive and Futile?”

Andres Alonso (CEO of the Baltimore City Public Schools) and Emily Lawson (Founder and CEO of DC Prep, a network of charter schools) also spoke at the event.

You can view the event in its entirety here.