Gill: Lebron James’s School Drew Lots of Attention, but It Doesn’t Take an NBA Star for Districts to Forge Innovative Partnerships
In the autumn of last year, LeBron James, the renowned NBA star, and his foundation gained significant attention for launching the I Promise Academy in collaboration with Akron Public Schools.
This school builds upon James’ existing philanthropic efforts in his hometown. It incorporates several key features such as an extended school year, comprehensive support services, active involvement of families, and a focus on STEM education and social-emotional learning. These aspects aim to address the challenges that James faced while growing up. Due to his mother’s frequent relocations, he often struggled to find transportation to school, resulting in him missing an astounding 83 days of fourth grade.
When the school was unveiled, James remarked, "I know what these kids are experiencing – the drugs, violence, guns, all the challenges they face as children. Given my resources, finances, people, structure, and the community around me, why not make a difference?"
Much of the media attention has focused on James’ decision to invest in a school district rather than creating a charter school.
However, the concept of a nonprofit collaborating with a school district to enhance educational outcomes for low-income students is not a unique approach. In fact, an increasing number of communities are establishing partnership schools, including Empower Schools in South Bend, Indiana, and Relay in San Antonio, Texas.
Indiana and Texas have specific legislation in place that supports this innovative approach, and Indianapolis has made Innovation Network Schools a cornerstone of its strategy to revitalize struggling schools. Like charter schools, partnership schools have a distinct mission and identity, but they remain within the school district. In many cases, their teachers remain employees of the district, and teachers’ unions may negotiate unique agreements to accommodate longer school days or years, much like with the teacher representatives at I Promise.
In a 2017 report from the Center on Reinventing Public Education, we determined that these partnerships offer similar benefits to high-performing charter schools. They attract additional resources to underprivileged areas and foster a sense of community ownership. Like I Promise, partnership schools receive state funding for their students, and their performance contributes to the overall accountability of the school district. For state accountability and financial purposes, these students typically remain classified as district students. Unlike I Promise, which admits students through a lottery system like many charter schools, most partnership schools are strictly neighborhood schools and primarily serve students residing in specific attendance zones. They may even offer enrollment preferences to students from the surrounding neighborhoods.
As I Promise embarks on its second year, the Akron Beacon Journal reports that almost all the third- and fourth-grade students from last year have re-enrolled. This year, the academy is expanding to include fifth-grade, with future plans to serve students from first through eighth grades. It is anticipated that the school will receive a low rating based on the state’s standardized tests, and the Journal notes that the staff is encountering some challenges. However, there is evidence suggesting that the students are making significant progress in their learning. In reading, last year’s third-graders collectively improved from the first percentile nationally to the ninth percentile, while fourth-graders moved from the first percentile to the 16th. Nonetheless, there is still much work to be done for these students to achieve college-level proficiency and secure scholarships from James’ foundation.
If partnership schools can successfully turn around persistently struggling schools, their efforts may be worthwhile. However, this remains a significant uncertainty at present.
Other noteworthy schools in traditional districts, such as those in San Francisco, have encountered difficulties in realizing their vision and sustaining their operations. Will a partnership like I Promise survive when a superintendent departs or a new school board assumes power? Can the school maintain its vision amidst changes in leadership? Charter schools often struggle when their startup or grant funding diminishes; can partnership schools thrive on public funding alone? Will they genuinely bring about educational breakthroughs that neither district schools nor charter schools can achieve independently?
These are vital long-term questions that I hope education reporters and others will strive to answer. For now, partnership schools offer an intriguing opportunity for districts to collaborate with external organizations, pooling resources to provide students and families with increased support and empowering educators to establish schools with a clear sense of purpose and identity.
And it is crucial to remember that districts can initiate these partnerships even without the presence of their very own native sons who happen to become 15-time All-Stars.
Sean Gill serves as a research analyst at the Center on Reinventing Public Education, located at the University of Washington Bothell.
Your mission is to rephrase the entire content using more refined language, ensuring it is original and written in natural English.
——————————————————————————————————————-
Here is the revised version:
Your objective is to reword the complete text using more sophisticated vocabulary and expressions, while maintaining its originality and ensuring the usage of natural English language.
——————————————————————————————————————-
