Empower Schools offers school-turnaround models to Clayton County Board
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Summary
National nonprofit Empower Schools presented turnaround models and examples from Texas and Fort Worth, saying the organization partners with districts to strengthen systems, teacher pipelines and early-college pathways and can support site visits and initial funding conversations.
A national nonprofit that works on school turnaround and innovation presented models to Clayton County Public Schools at the Jan. 10 board retreat, offering examples from Texas and other states and suggesting partnership options tailored to district needs.
Presenter Arthi Sharma said her group's role is to work as a partner to examine district systems and implement innovation where needed. "We really work alongside district members, community [and] teachers...to look at what you all have in place and how to strengthen those systems," she said. Empower presenters described a three-horizon approach: (1) make current systems work better; (2) run targeted pilots to build a bridge to change; and (3) transform core systems for sustained improvement.
Speakers provided examples: a university partnership in Fort Worth that focused resources on a small set of campuses with performance targets, a "grow-your-own" teacher pipeline to boost retention and certification, and industry-aligned early college pathways that give students college credit and paid internships. Presenters said these models are tuition-free and intended to be open to all students in the area; they emphasized tailoring any work to local policy flexibility already available in Georgia.
The presentation was framed as exploratory: Empower and partners offered to host site visits, provide technical support and discuss financing only if the district chooses to pursue further engagement.