News Room:
Local interest in participating in the national movement to create small high schools remains strong.
The Technical Assistance & Leadership Center (TALC New Vision) received 22 proposals for planning grants to start new small high schools in Milwaukee by the January 10 deadline.
In July 2003, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation announced a $17.25 million investment to be used to create 60 new high-quality small high schools throughout Milwaukee over five years.
Over three grant cycles, TALC New Vision has received 77 proposals for new schools. “Milwaukee’s enthusiasm for the small high schools reform effort has far exceeded our expectations,” says TALC New Vision Small School Development coach Rhonda Steward.
This third grant cycle is for those intending to open a new small high school in the 2006–07 school year. Planning grants of up to $50,000 will be announced March 7, 2005.
The “New Vision of Secondary Education in Milwaukee” grant aims to expand school options for students and parents and to create personalized learning environments to help more students graduate.
Schools can be created within or in partnership with the Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS), as independent charter schools, or as private schools which low income parents can access through the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program.
As intermediary for the grant, TALC New Vision helps select grant recipients, provides technical assistance to teams planning and implementing new small high schools, and maintains fiscal oversight for disbursement of grant funds.
Twelve TALC New Vision high schools are currently in operation, eight of which opened their doors this past fall. These eight schools received implementation grants of up to $150,000 in 2004–05.
Two are private schools, one is an independent charter school authorized by UWM, and five schools operate within MPS. Eighteen groups are currently in the planning process under grants received for the 2004–05 school year.
TALC New Vision is committed to a new vision of public education based on a diversity of personalized learning environments, a diversity of school governance structures, and the ability of all families, regardless of their economic status, to choose options that they think will be best for their children.
TALC New Vision advocates for education policy supportive of this new vision and provides technical assistance to teams planning and implementing new small high schools within the “New Vision of Secondary Education in Milwaukee” funded by a grant by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
For more information on TALC New Vision, call 931–6225. Or go to http://www.talcnewvision.org or
Story courtesy of TALC (Technical Assistance and Leadership Center) news letter, “New Vision News”
Download: “Proposal submissions strong…” PDF (164 Kb)
