D.C. Schools Chancellor Kaya Henderson introduced a new five-year plan Wednesday that calls for higher-achieving public schools with longer days and better graduation rates, but she warned that paying for improvements will require closing some campuses.
The plan is Henderson’s clearest and most specific articulation of a long-range vision since replacing Michelle A. Rhee in October 2010. It is also the latest in a series of moves aimed at placing her own imprint on attempts to overhaul the historically low-performing system. In February, for example, she proposed that her office be given authority to open charter schools to raise academic achievement.
Henderson committed the city to a series of educational goals by 2017. They include raising citywide math and reading proficiency on standardized tests from the current 43 percent to 70 percent and lifting proficiency rates at the 40 lowest-performing schools by 40 percentage points. She also wants to expand enrollment and boost four-year graduation rates from 53 percent to 75 percent.
But Henderson also warned that any long-term improvement will be possible only though a dramatic shrinkage of the system’s footprint. About 47,000 students attend 123 schools, 45 of them with enrollment of less than 300. By contrast, Fairfax County operates 194 schools for 177,600 students, officials said.
