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The battle over how to turn around the nation’s lowest-performing schools has been playing out in state legislatures, town hall meetings, and editorial pages across the country. In New York City, parents from low-income and working-class communities have taken their vision of equity and excellence for all schools to City Hall.

In recent years, New York City has been at the forefront of the national push to fix low-performing schools by closing them down and starting new ones in their place. Since Mayor Bloomberg and Chancellor Klein took office in 2002, they have moved to close 108 schools — almost as many schools as there are in the entire district of Washington, DC. And Bloomberg has pledged to close down an additional 150 schools in the next three years.

But there is another approach. The NYC Coalition for Educational Justice (CEJ), which joins parent and community organizing groups from across the city, has been working to improve public schools in their neighborhoods since 2006, with research and capacity-building support from the Annenberg Institute for School Reform. CEJ parents, along with academics, faith leaders, advocates, and elected officials are pushing back and urging the city to fix struggling schools instead of closing them. Their plan is called the School Transformation Zone and on May 25, the New York City Council voted unanimously to support this vision of school improvement. Councilmember Robert Jackson, who introduced the resolution, explained that it “reflects the view of many parents, educators, advocates, and elected officials... that the Department of Education has a responsibility to help struggling schools rather than just taking the easy way out by closing them.”

The School Transformation Zone is based on parents’ experience, as well as research showing that struggling schools can be turned around with a comprehensive package of reforms that follow three central principles, practiced in concert:

1. A collaborative approach that creates local ownership and accountability
   Parents, students, teachers, and communities must play a meaningful role in designing and implementing reform. When families and teachers have invested in the school improvement plan, they are more likely to hold the school accountable to it.
   
   
2. A focus on instructional change, capacity building, and school culture
   Structural change alone is not an educational strategy. The focus of school improvement must be on instructional change, and it must be comprehensive, research-based, and supported with the necessary resources to provide all students with a robust, well-rounded educational experience.
   
   
3. Recognition and coordination of supports for the whole student
   Students cannot learn when they are hungry, exhausted, or sick; when their parents cannot support them at home; when they feel disrespected in school. A comprehensive improvement plan must assess and address student and family needs and organize necessary supports.

In contrast to closing schools, which can become a shell game that cloaks failure rather than addressing its roots, the School Transformation Zone would incubate reforms that build school capacity for the long run. Struggling schools would receive intensive supports, guidance, and resources to redesign teaching and learning and implement five proven school improvement strategies:

• Expand the school day and year for students.
  
  
• Provide a rigorous, well-rounded college and career-preparatory curriculum for all students.
  
  
• Increase planning and professional development time for teachers.
  
  
• Offer comprehensive, integrated support services for struggling students.
  
  
• Ensure active parent and community involvement in school policy and decision making.

While the New York City Council resolution has no binding authority under the system of mayoral control, it sends a powerful message that closing schools — while sometimes necessary — is not always the best strategy to address school failure. School systems have to grapple with the reality that there is a limited pool of excellent principals and first-rate teachers trained and ready to serve the neediest students; they must invest in the hard work of building the skills and capacity of the schools and staff they have, using the strategies that have been tried and proven in many struggling schools that have made impressive gains.

The School Transformation Zone is a great place to start.