City Hopes To Improve Performance, Cash In On Grants With Student Consolidation
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - It's called the Great Schools Compact, and the city is hoping it'll be worth millions in grants from the Gates Foundation.
The aim of the compact is to move 50,000 students out of the worst-performing schools over the next five years by expanding enrollment in high-performing charters.
City chief education officer Lori Shorr says the deal would hold charters accountable to academic standards, while aligning the application process for charters and traditional public schools.
"We need better education for our kids," Shorr says. "And some of the district schools are doing that now, and some of the new charters are doing it. Some of the old charters are doing that. How do we increase the capacity in this city for more kids to be in those types of opportunities?"
Shorr says once the city, the state, charter school groups and the district sign on, it'll be entered in a Gates Foundation competition that could be worth between $250,000 and $15 million in grant money.
Reported by Mike DeNardo, KYW Newsradio 1060
