Amethod Public Schools
In 2004 Jorge Lopez took control of the school. At the time its Academic Performance Index (API) was 650. Lopez received guidance from Ben Chavis, head of the American Indian Model Schools, and established a system similar to the system of American Indian Public Charter School at Oakland Charter Academy. In late September 2007 the Oakland Charter Academy became the second public school in Oakland to win the National Blue Ribbon award. Oakland Charter High School opened in 2007.
Turnaround model
Between 2001-2008, a predecessor to the Turnaround Model was originally used by the Chicago Public School System under then Chief Executive Officer Arne Duncan. To address the large number of low-performing public schools, Duncan worked with a variety of stakeholders to open new schools and close underperforming schools while simultaneously improve performance and teacher and principal quality. This success likely contributed to President Obama’s selection of Duncan as the U.S. Secretary of Education in January 2009. This experience served as an inspiration to Duncan when creating and implementing the SIG and RTTT programs as Secretary of Education to utilize the $3.5 billion surplus to improve low-performing schools nationwide. Between June and August 2010, 2,000 tenured and untenured teachers were laid off from Chicago Public Schools. Opponents of the move claimed that the main driving force behind the move was budgetary concerns, rather than school improvement, with one laid-off teacher explaining, "...You can hire three new, untenured teachers for the price of a tenured teacher.".