In the Monday, August 16, 2010, issue of the Wall Street Journal, Mayor Jim Ardis was quoted in an article about mayoral control of schools.
After reading the article, I found myself wondering; if Mayor Ardis controlled schools, what exactly would that mean? Would he conduct business for the schools along the lines of how he conducts business for the City?
The pjstar reposted this article from the WSJ. Since it sounds like Ardis is saying that they are in fact developing a "Peoria model", perhaps the pjstar should take it a step further and ask Ardis to clarify exactly what his intentions are.
Taking Schools Into Their Own Hands
More Mayors Seek Control as Washington Presses for Action on Failing Institutions; Setting an Example in Rochester
ROCHESTER, N.Y.—During the last weeks of the term, third graders at School 58-World of Inquiry School created an oil spill in a bowl. Under the guidance of teacher Alyson Ricci, they tried to clean it up. Cotton swabs worked.
The school last year won the national Excellence in Urban Education Award, with all students meeting state proficiency rates in science and social studies. It's an exception, though, in a Rochester system where fewer than half of the 32,000 public-school students graduate on time.
Rochester Mayor Robert Duffy wants to set up more schools that produce results like World of Inquiry's. But he says the superintendent's efforts to close failing schools and open new ones have been hobbled by a school board mired in minutia. He is pushing to dissolve the elected board in favor of one appointed by the mayor and city council for a five-year test period. New York's state legislature is considering the bid.
As cities come under increasing pressure to fix failing schools, more are, like Rochester, trying to take matters into their own hands—or at least those of their mayors.
"People are desperately seeking a model that can be duplicated and used in different communities," said Jim Ardis, the mayor of Peoria, Ill., who is considering such a move. He argues that a Peoria model—yet to be developed—is more likely to fit smaller cities across the Midwest than existing systems in larger urban areas.
Detroit and Milwaukee recently launched bids to assert mayoral control, although those have stalled amid opposition from lawmakers, unions and school boards. And in California, where a court has deemed mayoral control unconstitutional, Sacramento's mayor is figuring out unofficial ways to be involved.
Read the entire article here.
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Governor Quinn wants to explore having more influence in the City of Peoria
A new charter school - Peoria City Academy?
Oh, how wonderful