The High School Task Force was established about  a year ago.   It appears that teachers and principals have been involved, though it’s a little unclear to what extent until recently.  One major accomplishment was a searchable list of course offerings in all the high schools published in the fall.  That alone was almost worth the price of admission, since it makes glaringly apparent the vast inequity of opportunities for students.  Sometime around November, there was a promise to create a baseline “core curriculum” that PPS would guarantee for all students.   As far as I know, that still hasn’t happened.  The next revelation didn’t occur until March 15, when the 5 proposed models were unveiled.   In a Powerpoint.   As Powerpoints go, it wasn’t bad.   But it was just a Powerpoint.  That’s it.  No analysis, no background information, no explanation of how the Task Force conducted its work, what data it used, what problems they were trying to address or why they thought any of these 5 models would fix those problems.  I started having flashbacks to 2005 and the K-8 “reconfigurations” and we all know how those turned out.

Let me be blunt: with all due respect to those leading the charge, why should I have confidence that this initiative isn’t just another example of PPS following the educational fad of the week?   Show me that you have actually analyzed the existing high schools system and discovered what is working and what isn’t.  Show me that those findings have been considered in your choice of these models, now christened the Three Big Ideas.  Show me what your desired outcomes are for students and why you think each of these models might produce those outcomes.   Show me where these models have been used and what the experience has been.  Show me that we will have the resources to implement these models with any kind of fidelity.  Show me that blowing up the existing system and starting all over would be better than just balancing enrollment and repairing the schools we’ve got.

Show me, in other words, something a lot more analytical than a Powerpoint and a glitzy brochure.