KPRC-2 has a story up that says HISD superintendent Abe Saavedra is clarifying his plans for seeking help to improve three underperforming high schools:
[…]the superintendent clarified Thursday that the district has no definite plans to bring in outside contractors as a way of improving three underperforming schools.
[snip]
Saavedra insisted Thursday that the Houston Chronicle improperly reported his plans for Yates, Sam Houston and Kashmere high schools.
The superintendent clarified that what he said during his speech was that the district is currently taking proposals from teachers and administrators already in place at the schools, as well as nonprofit and for-profit organizations.
I wrote about the possibility of HISD bringing in some outside help for those schools, and I relied on the Chronicle’s editorial. Here is what that editorial said:
Saavedra’s boldest proposal is to replace the management of three academically low-performing Houston high schools with outside “reform providers” to raise academic standards and revamp management.
However, the Chronicle‘s news story by Jason Spencer more accurately (now that I look at it) characterizes what Saavedra said, I think:
Saavedra said he is open to offers from nonprofit and for-profit groups, and HISD employees. That could include universities, school reform companies such as New York City-based Edison Schools, or local nonprofits, such as the Knowledge is Power Program (KIPP) or Project GRAD (Graduation Really Achieves Dreams), both of which have a presence in HISD.
The editorial uses the words “outside reform providers” which does not clearly convey that HISD is open to proposals from inside HISD as well as from outside non-profit and for-profit groups. And since I didn’t do my homework by reading Spencer’s story, I also placed an emphasis on outside groups. Sorry about that, folks.
UPDATE: My clarification needs clarifying. You see, Jason Spencer’s story wasn’t accurate either. In Wednesday’s paper, Spencer’s story is the Big Headline Story on the front page. See where I bolded “and HISD employees” in the quote above? His original story in the paper doesn’t have that. He did not say that HISD employees were being allowed to offer proposals, like I gave him credit for. But instead of doing a correction that one might expect out of a professional media outfit, the Chronicle decided to just add those three words to the online story. You know, a little airbrushing. Then in the online Corrections section is this:
