Helping schools with the budget crunch

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Jun 19, 2009

Clayton Christensen and I have a piece up on the Harvard Business Review blog titled A Solution to School District Budget Cuts. It is about the cuts that the LA Unified School District and others are making to summer school and the like–and how they ought to view budget shortages not as threats but as opportunities to transform the system. In this case, rather than simply cut summer school almost entirely–which might save money in the short run but will in fact create much bigger costs overall–why not offer many of these courses still but online? More detail is in the piece.
Simple and mindless cuts don’t make much sense, and we need people to think more strategically. Creative, disruptive solutions to transform old systems are vital. Business as usual isn’t going to return anytime soon.

– Michael B. Horn

Michael is a co-founder and distinguished fellow at the Clayton Christensen Institute. He currently serves as Chairman of the Clayton Christensen Institute and works as a senior strategist at Guild Education.