Michigan City Outsources All of Its Schools

I'm sure that the Highland Park School District is not alone in its financial struggles.  As communities have been decimated by the "great recession", families have moved and businesses have closed thus reducing the amount of tax revenue being collected.  Without revenue, school districts rack up the debt.

The solution for this one Michigan school district in particular was to outsource its entire school system.  Full piece here in the WSJ.

• Highland Park School District, one of the state's lowest-performing academically, says it will turn over its three schools and nearly 1,000 students to a private, for-profit charter school company—the second district in Michigan to take such a drastic step to avert financial collapse.
• Leona Group LLC, which promises to improve the learning environment and boost student performance in a district where only 22% of third graders passed state reading exams last school year and just 10% passed math. The results were even worse for high-schoolers: About 10% were proficient in reading, and none in math.

• Proponents say the move could offer a lifeline to other school districts in crisis. In 2011, 48 of Michigan's 793 districts ran deficits that totaled $429 million, compared with 18 districts with $59 million in combined deficits in 2004-2005, according to the most recent state data.
• The district got itself into financial trouble, in part, because it didn't cut staff as fast as its enrollment declined along with the city's population, leaving it with higher per-pupil expenditures, said Joyce Parker, who, under a controversial state law, was appointed district emergency manager in May by Republican Gov. Rick Snyder.