Highland Park will outsource all of its schools

**Deleterious** · 08-04-2012, 12:29 PM

HIGHLAND PARK, Mich.—The public school district in this hard-luck city has come up with a radical answer for its troubled education system: It is outsourcing all of it.

Highland Park School District, one of the state's lowest-performing academically, says it will turn over its three schools and nearly 1,000 students to a private, for-profit charter school company—the second district in Michigan to take such a drastic step to avert financial collapse.

The abrupt news last week sparked concern—and in some cases, relief— from parents and other residents who packed a Wednesday night meeting in the faded industrial city, which is nearly surrounded by Detroit.

The parents came to hear from the charter company, Leona Group LLC, which promises to improve the learning environment and boost student performance in a district where only 22% of third graders passed state reading exams last school year and just 10% passed math. The results were even worse for high-schoolers: About 10% were proficient in reading, and none in math.

Much longer article at the link.