Principals at those schools can now spend their energies to improve education for all students, as opposed to finding ways to keep magnets afloat. The themed approach is a reasonable way to group magnets according to their specialties, from kindergarten through high school. Some parents have already followed this track as their children have progressed from elementary school to high school. The board just made it official. A bigger challenge is fleshing out the definitions.
Packaging is important, but what really counts is the content.
Jessie Collier DeLoach, the lone board member who voted against the reform plan, was upset by the loss of two magnet programs at Beach High School, which is in her district. But as Ms. Edwards pointed out, Beach and any other school that is losing magnet programs are free to continue their specialized course offerings. Principals just have to find another way to pay for them. Ms. Edwards, who is retiring at the end of the school year, should be credited for coming up with a rational magnet reform plan under short notice. As a short-timer, she could have passed this buck to her successor.