Urban schools go door-to-door?

Sunday, August 23, 2009

I just stumbled upon this article from Richmond, Virginia—and it includes the kind of out-of-the-box thinking we need to see on the Cincinnati School Board (which is why I’m pleased to bring the issue to your attention!).

Here are some excerpts from the article:

RICHMOND, Va. - Most students try not to think about school during the summer. But a number of them took to the streets on a sweltering August day to talk up public education to people who might normally enroll their children in private or parochial schools.

Clad in T-shirts promoting “The Choice,” about 100 students, parents and administrators went door-to-door on a recent Saturday, asking Richmond homeowners to give their neighborhood schools a second look. Joining them was Virginia’s first lady Anne Holton, a product of city schools. ...

Still, the color brochures distributed by volunteers spell out what’s going well, including: All city high schools have met state accreditation standards; every city elementary school offers foreign-language instruction; and the number of students enrolled in Advanced Placement courses grew by 275 percent over the last year.

Other urban school systems have undertaken similar recruitment campaigns, including Detroit, Milwaukee and Washington, D.C., all districts that continue to lose students, which translates into less money to maintain educational programs.

I know the CPS enrollment has stabilized this year, but we still should think about how to grow the district.  Already, I’ve heard about some of the new buildings suffering from overcrowding—so one must wonder if part of the solution might be in getting more students, and therefore more funding, to help ease the burden of the district’s emerging overcrowding problem.

It may sound paradoxical, but the alternative is to be stuck with the status quo.  Perhaps more students will equate to more resources, and therefore a better environment for our district’s teachers and students.