Schools will get more say in decisions

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Thursday, October 22, 1998

BY DANA DiFILIPPO
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Cincinnati Public Schools leaders say they aim to give schools more decision-making control in the belief that those closest to the students may know the best way to boost their performance.

School board members and Superintendent Steven Adamowski, gathered Wednesday at the Queen City Club downtown for a daylong retreat, said decentralization is the key to ensuring achievement gains.

"The objective here is raising student achievement," Mr. Adamowski said. "How do you design a system that can do that -- or do it better than we're doing now? If we want to change our results, we must change the design of our administration."

Wednesday's session was the second of several retreats. A third, in which officials plan to discuss charter schools, is set for Nov. 3. The district has several clear responsibilities, Mr. Adamowski said:

• Setting standards. The district is in the forefront in this, he said.

• Ensuring equity. Administrators are working to develop a student-based budgeting system, in which money would follow students as they change schools. The district should work to ensure equity in facilities and technology, too, Mr. Adamowski said.

• Offering professional and leadership development opportunities fo
• r teachers and staff, and overseeing national recruiting.

  Evaluating schools. Administrators should regularly review schools' performance and annually assess parents' and students' satisfaction.

• Offering high-quality educational choices. The district should give successful or improving schools more autonomy, intervene in failing schools and create new schools to fill voids.

• Providing services that can be given more efficiently on a centralized basis, such as benefits.

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