Boston School Superintendent Carol Johnson last night outlined a plan for revamping local schools that includes publicly funded Montessori schools, classes segregated by sex and classes on local college campuses.

Johnson proposed an array of new programs (outline) at a School Committee meeting in what she said was an effort to improve schools in general and to address disparities among racial and ethnic groups and between the sexes. Boston currently has a graduation rate of just 58%; blacks and Hispanics on average score lower on standardized tests than whites and Asians.

Other proposals include greater after-school enrichment programs, letting students take classes on local college campuses and boosting programs for non-English-speaking students. She also said she would overhaul the system's special-needs programs, in particular what she said was way boys of color are "over-assigned" to special-needs classes.

She also called for development of new yardsticks by which to measure school performance and tighter oversight of the city's pilot schools, which were designed to be less subject to central and union control - and to try to replicate their successful practices across the entire system.

Johnson did not say how she would pay for all her programs, some of which would take awhile to develop. However, she proposed creation of a dedicated fundraising office to seek donations from local businesses.

Also not addressed: Continuing pressure for a return to traditional neighborhood schools to replace the city's current three-zone assignment system for elementary and middle-school students.

Johnson also called for an aggressive campaign to market Boston Public Schools as "schools of choice." The system is already advertising on the T.

Globe: School chief lays out ambitious plan.