The move puts in motion Mayor Brandon Johnson’s campaign promise to reinvigorate Chicago Public Schools’ neighborhood schools. On the campaign trail, Johnson likened the city’s school choice system to a “Hunger Games scenario” that forces competition for resources and ultimately harms schools, particularly those where students are zoned based on their address.
"We're family. They will never leave," says Principal Dashe Rowland regarding her New Leaders cohort, an organization that provided her a direct pathway into the principalship.
"A long, long time ago I heard a superintendent talk and say, 'The problem with communication is 90% of the time people think they communicated, they didn't communicate or they miscommunicated,'" says Sean Maika, who was recently named a Superintendent to Watch by the National School Public Relations Association. "That leads to 90% of your problems."
These 780 schools stand out for enabling students to get regular exercise, building tighter connections with their communities and expanding social-emotional learning.
U.S. News' analysis of nearly 18,000 public schools across the country ranks schools based on college preparedness, student achievement and STEM education.
"Many districts throughout the state will be passing deficit budgets, because they are facing the same challenges," said Austin ISD CFO Ed Ramos. "Teachers are leaving the profession. Employees are making the decision whether or not to stay in their districts."
Superintendent Kurt Browning, the longtime leader of Florida's Pasco County Schools, calls himself a "champion of choice," having launched several magnet programs and expanded advanced curriculum offerings.
School board held an emergency meeting after a fatal stabbing at high school and nearly two months after separate incidents placed two high schools on lockdown.
