One School At A Time

Remember the Morgan Stanley slogan… “one client at a time”?

Looks like CPS is adopting the "one school at a time" approach toward a longer school day.

I always found the Morgan Stanley ad campaign annoying, but the CPS strategy could hold a lot of promise.

So far teachers at four schools have voted to extend their school day unilaterally, not waiting for the teacher union – CPS negotiation to play out. In return CPS will provide each school and teachers with added funding.

Two of the schools are magnet or selective public schools. And two are majority low-income students, where arguably the extended day may be needed the most.

Will more schools take up the vote?

One thing we know for sure, extended school day by itself will not turn around a school. But -- most important -- an engaged group of teachers and parents definitely is a foundation for a better school. If the “one school at a time” approach encourages teachers and parents to organize and take local action, that’s good enough for us. Waiting for the high level political battles to play out is a recipe for the status quo and we don’t want that.