Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder called the Detroit school system a “failing format” when speaking to reporters from the Detroit Free Press Thursday at the Detroit Regional Chamber’s annual policy conference on Mackinac Island. But instead of calling for a wholesale conversion to charter schools, as some might suggest, Snyder offered that a “system of schools” with charter-like autonomy might be more innovative:
… He said the school board could focus on measuring academic results instead of dictating curriculums and school-by-school management.
“You need to empower the schools more, rather than having a command-and-control structure of the district,” he said. “How do you give the administrator in that school and the teachers a team? You make it more entrepreneurial and innovative.
“It’s like they’re a business unit, and they’re there to help their kids grow. Give them the resources to succeed, and then, how do you hold them accountable?”