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School closing and turnarounds
Last week, CPS announced a new process for school closings and turnarounds. The first step will be community meetings to inform residents about the state of their schools. What is your advice for making these meetings productive? Do you think this process will make closings and other school actions less contentious?
Of course it's always good (and often legally required) for CPS to hold community meetings--not just to inform, but to be informed. After all, it's usually the parents and community residents who know more about the "state of their schools" that do the bean (test score) counters at the board. But it does raise the question-- is the school-closing ("turnaround") strategy a foregone conclusion? Are school closings being driven by interests other than those of the school community, ie. local business interests and pressures from Arne Duncan's Race To The Top?
I'm thinking here about CEO Huberman's remark last week on WBEZ: "There’s theoretically $2 million on the table for every time CPS exercises one of these models." Some alderman even warned Huberman that his community outreach efforts could be undone if it "looked like the district’s decisions were about money."
All this reminds me of a remark I heard from a top CPS administrative officer a few years ago. CPS was holding similar "community outreach meetings" at the time, around the so-called "Mid-South Plan." The administrator let out that the real purpose of the meetings was "to reign-in" the community activists and control the discussion and protests against the plan. This unsolicited confession should offer a warning to school community members. Meetings are fine so long as community voices are taken seriously and aren't simply being "reigned in."
I applaud the board for making the first step an outreach to let people know the real state of their schools. It's understandable that parents want to keep their neighborhood school open, even if it's not educating students well. Parents, by and large, don't want to have to wade through a bevy of 'schools of choice'--they want, and deserve, to have confidence that the school a couple of blocks away is going to teach their child to his or her maximum potential. To that end, the board will have to really listen to the concerns of parents and address them. Don't just hold a hearing to make it look good or to try and "control the message." That does not work. Some people are going to be skeptical no matter what the board does but the board has the obligation to engage with the community in good faith and prove that it has children's best interests at heart.
How can the Board prove itself to be serving the youth of Chicago? A fundamental problem is either A) no one believes the Board is doing so or B) it simply is not. It is likely that the truth is somewhere in the middle. The Board of Education is in a position of servitude and they ought to be acting with deference and humility towards those they serve. Engaging parents with the question of what their students deserve is critical, but I see this to be only part of what can be a very productive collaboration. An ongoing conversation needs to take place. Themes and big ideas developed. Questions must be posed to the people of the community. Options and ideas must be provided. Models and explorations of what others have done ought to analyzed. There appear to be a plethora of effective models happening in the diaspora that are rarely brought to the table. First and foremost though, everyone - educators, administrators and community members - need to be willing to show up knowing who they are and where they are coming from.
Those who live the daily life of the community and school need to be given credence. Those who live and know the community and those who teach in failing schools have valid and crucial insight. At first, it should be expected that there will be a lot of blaming and venting. Everyone involved in a failing school is hurt by this and needs the opportunity for their grievances to be heard. They also deserve the chance to be uplifted by possibilities.
The Board of Education can and deserves to be a venue for expertise and decision making but they need to make their decisions based upon the needs of the public they serve, rather than acting on hubris. Yet, it is the Board itself which has failed the people. At the same time, the Board itself must answer to others. There are both state and federal regulations that must followed. So, the Board does not have free reign. More than anything the Board members are expected to be experts and professionals. Yet, expertise is not a static possession rather it must be continually developed. The best way to do this is to not only be willing to listen but to be honest about what is demanded of them.
I hope that it is possible that everyone can come to the table willing to listen to and work with one another in an ongoing process. I hope that failures can be openly examined and addressed without anyone believing they already have the answers.
As soon as I read “new process”, I think “What went wrong with the old process?” and “Are we admitting failure?”
I, too, agree that we must attempt to show transparency at all levels and just want to caution of the following:
How and when will such meetings be publicized? This should be done multiple ways and repeatedly. Is this happening at end of the school year, “raising the hackles” of parents who will feel they have little recourse?
A very strong moderator will need to be present so it’s not just an out-of-control tirade or posturing for the media.
Parents already know their school is not the “best” and don’t want to hear excuses, but accountability and how this will be improved.
Make sure you “accentuate the positive”.
Be prepared for those who want to know how this will differ from other previous efforts.
Be prepared for voucher discussion, especially since this was just “shot down”.
Inform of plan specifics, timeframe and measurements.
Tell them what will occur to those students who are disruptive to the others.
Give resources to get students back on track.
You need to have something that will show immediate results to boost faith and garner support. This will have to be ongoing or it will be viewed as “all show”.
Unfortunately, the process can not be made less contentious since it seems to happen with regularity and is extremely personal. The only thing that can be accomplished is to express “mea culpa” and state how you will proceed.