Detroit looks to charters to remake public schools
By Larry Abramson/NPR
The Detroit Public School system hopes to convert dozens of schools into charters in the next year or so in a last-ditch effort to cut costs and stop plummeting enrollment. The plan faces tremendous skepticism from a generation of parents and teachers frustrated from previous reform efforts. No one has ever done what DPS is trying to do: turn more than 40 schools into charters, some in just a few short weeks. Greg Richmond of the National Association of Charter School Authorizers says that when the city first approached him with this idea, he hesitated. (more...)