Revamped security and discipline policies, more specialized schools, a “Parent Academy” to help District parents take charge of their children’s education and the possibility of more school closures are part of the long-term vision proposed by Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee in a new document.
The 79-page “action plan,” which Rhee will present to the D.C. Council tomorrow, pulls together a broad variety of ideas that have been only hinted at publicly, including a possible end to out-of-school suspensions and an increase in the number of “theme” schools, focusing on high technology, language immersion, or gifted and talented students.
Other goals in the draft document — the need for new and better-paid teachers, higher test scores, closing the achievement gap between white and minority students — are ones she has frequently articulated. Taken together, they provide the most detailed picture of Rhee’s aspirations for the 120-school system, which is affected by declining enrollment and poor academic performance.