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Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Innovation Schools, Er, "Creative Approach Schools"

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Innovation Schools, Er, "Creative Approach Schools":

Innovation Schools, Er, "Creative Approach Schools"

The initial draft of the MOU between the district and the SEA about innovation schools (now renamed "Creative Approach Schools") is clearly a work in progress. But it is promising.

It's interesting because I think some fear this as an intro into charters; I see it as a way to strong-arm off charters. Why do you need charters if districts and unions are willing to work together to provide innovative ways to close the achievement gap? I think this kind of forward motion is what we need to see more of and could be a model for the rest of the country. (I do know that there are innovation-type schools as well as charters as well as magnets in some districts in the country. I don't get have a huge hodge-podge of types of schools. What a lot of confusion for parents and oversight costs for the state.)

Back to the MOU.

It would only cover the current CBA which runs from 2010-2013. It would provide for "broad exemptions" from