Madison school officials debut new achievement gap plan
Officials with the Madison Metropolitan School District are revealing new recommendations on how to close the achievement gap in city schools.
Superintendent Dan Nerad said the new plan, which includes a focus on improving literacy, the expansion of AVID/TOPS programs to middle schools, a mentor academy to help students find role models in the community and other measures, will cost less.
The original plan cost about $105 million over five years. The revised plan's price tag is $55.6 million over the same time period, administrators said. The lower cost is attributed to several initiatives being pushed back, such as extending the school day.
"If we're going to make a difference, we're going to need to invest," Nerad said. "On the other hand, as we started working through the final plan, we realized that we also need to balance this with the needs of the community going forward, and it needs to be a sustainable plan."
