As public schools close in Atlanta, keep the focus on children’s well-being

Atlanta Public Schools is in the midst of determining which schools to close, an inherently sensitive and complicated process.

The school district deserves credit for taking on these tough decisions and doing so in a way that has so far been transparent and provided ample opportunities for community feedback.

The gap between how many students the district can serve (roughly 70,000) and how many students the district is serving (roughly 50,000) is stark and real and dramatically narrowing that gap is necessary if the district is going to remain financially solvent.

As the district moves toward recommendations that could be approved by the end of the calendar year, Superintendent Bryan Johnson and the Board of Education need to prioritize three considerations, all of which involve kids, not data points or spreadsheets.

• First, students whose schools close must be placed in substantially higher-performing schools.
• Second, schools that receive these students must have staffing, capacity, and support in place before students arrive.
• Third, the impact of closure decisions must be closely monitored over time.

Click to read the article.