Accountability Commitment, reconstitution, accountability Many of the 130 some members of Chicago's high school redesign task forces may be wondering why they bothered. The administration has rejected a goodly number of their recommendations as unrealistic, too costly or contradictory and seems to be sticking with plans it has been talking about since August. Even so, the work of the task forces was not a waste of time.
Local commitment is the key.
That's a standard refrain from the folks who have been working on school reform in Chicago over the past eight years. It's also a message that comes through in the reviews that writer Elizabeth Duffrin gathered on the draft redesign plan. It pops up again in her articles comparing public and Catholic high schools. And again in Paul Cuadros' article on the city's first new Catholic high school in 30 years. Scott Thomson, retired executive director of the National Association of Secondary School Principals, speaks to the issue when he makes this observation about the task force proposal for block scheduling.