Nov. 17, 2015
Michael Kiley: “Isn’t this
what the district is supposed to be good at, running a neighborhood school? If the district is saying it cannot run a
neighborhood school, then I wonder about our management of the district at this
point.” http://co.chalkbeat.org/2015/10/29/in-denver-school-board-race-a-telling-divide-over-what-defines-a-neighborhood-school/#.Vj4hD_mrTIU
Julie Williams: "All
I am asking for is for a committee to tell us what is in (the AP History
curriculum), and then it's up to the board to decide what is appropriate for
our kids." http://www.9news.com/story/news/local/2014/09/25/conservative-board-member-speaks-out-after-protests/16245999/
Both school board candidates lost
on Nov. 3. They were supported by two opposing
groups (Kiley, by the teachers union; Williams, by Americans for
Prosperity-Colorado). Perhaps we miss
the point when talking about whether “reformers” won or lost, whether the left
or the right can claim victory.
Another View is that the
vote two weeks ago might be about a new role for school boards in our state.
That role is not to have a central
office run schools (Kiley), nor is to have a five-person board
“decide what is appropriate” for a dozen high schools across a huge district
(Williams).
That new role is smaller. More humble.
Ironic, I know, in light of the national—even international[1]—attention
given to our local races. Ironic in
light of the cash raised–and wow, that was a lot of money!--for these candidates.[2] It seems as if we are talking about Really
Important Positions of Enormous Influence.
That is what I hear in the comment on the new school board in Denver
Public Schools by Henry Roman, president of the Denver Classroom Teachers Association:
… he hopes that the new
board “continues to engage in collaboration” with teachers, parents and the
community. But he noted that more power also means more responsibility. http://co.chalkbeat.org/2015/11/05/in-denver-a-clean-sweep-for-backers-of-district-reforms-and-questions-about-a-united-front/#.Vj0G1fmrTIV
More power? Meaning what? School boards assuming even
more “control” over individual schools?
Isn’t that what Kiley and Williams suggest was their view as well? We run schools. The board decides.
“Yep, son, we have met the enemy he is us.” Pogo
Consider, if
you will, a trend moving in the opposite direction. Evident in three of our lowest-performing
school districts—DPS, Aurora, and Pueblo—seeking to improve. Where the boards
are willing to admit that “district control” and the central office have been
and are, in fact, part of the problem.
Boards making use of the 2008 Innovation Schools Act allowing “more autonomy to make decisions at the school-level” (Colorado Department
of Education). “The Act provides
a formal process that allows schools to petition
their local school boards for waivers from district-level policies …”
(CDE), and more. In short, boards
acknowledging to schools: It looks as if we have stood in your way. OK, guilty as charged. We begin to see that
it was presumptuous of us, some might even confess, foolish, to think we could “run” over a hundred schools, in our
two largest districts, from the central office in Denver or Jeffco. That’s
not what we know how to do, and—let’s make it clear: that’s really not our business.
Three
examples, then, of boards that have taken steps (major strides, in the case of DPS)
towards a system with less regulation from the top, with greater freedom and
authority at the school level.
|
Greater autonomy — if schools want it
In a major shift, DPS offered
principals the chance to opt their
schools out of centrally approved curriculum, teacher training and
assessments this school year and go their own way. About one-fifth of
principals seized the opportunity.
A more decentralized district
is a significant turning point for a district with a historically strong
central administration.
|
1. Denver Public Schools: With 54 charter
schools, 36 innovation schools (http://portfolio.dpsk12.org/
) and, beginning this fall, additional site-control and decision-making
available for many principals (see box), the school board has made it clear
that, no, we do not want to “run schools.” The more each school has the
authority and flexibility to make key decisions, the better. (More detail on DPS plans in Addendum A. One new member elected to board Nov. 3.)
2. Aurora
Public Schools, in Year 4 on “Priority Improvement” with the Colorado
Department of Education, recently proposed developing “up to three ACTION
Zones” in which the schools will apply for Colorado Innovation School Status. “Superintendent Rico Munn wants to free several of the city’s
academically struggling schools from district and state red tape as well
as the district’s collective bargaining agreement with its teachers union
in an effort to improve student achievement.” (http://co.chalkbeat.org/2015/03/18/aurora-chief-pitches-broad-reform-plan-to-save-central-high-from-state-sanctions/#.VjjoLfmrTIU). (More
detail on APS and innovation, Addendum
B. One new board member elected on Nov. 3.)
|
"Innovation Zone" coming to Pueblo City Schools (KOAA – by Lena
Howland)
As
part of their plan to turn around the district, the Superintendent is hoping
to turn 6-10 of their schools into an "Innovation Zone," just like
they did with Pueblo Academy of Arts.
"What we're hoping that
our students will see and our families will recognize, the opportunities that
are going to be a higher quality educational opportunities that might be
specific to needs of individual students," Sheryl Clarke, Assistant
Superintendent at Pueblo City Schools said.
|
3. Pueblo City Schools is in Year 5 on “Priority Improvement” with CDE.
In 2013 the district enabled three of its lowest-performing schools “to
become schools of innovation… (giving) each
school community greater autonomy and
flexibility in implementing innovative programs in their buildings to
better meet the needs of their students.”
Last spring the school board, apparently seeing enough success at
these three schools, committed to an Innovation Zone for several more schools
(see box).
(More detail on Pueblo 60 and
innovation, Addendum C. Three new
board members elected on Nov. 3.)
School districts to
schools: mea culpa
Yes, our fault. We have been the
helicopter parent overseeing our children.
Mum and Dad unwilling to let go.
We forgot you were adults able to manage on your own. We now
recognize—if grudgingly—the number of good charter schools in Colorado
benefiting from the freedom to commit to a mission, arrange a longer school
day, find a distinct curriculum, and hire individuals without the district bureaucracy
involved—in ways that best suit their
mission and the needs of their
students. (See Beyond Averages: School Quality in Denver Public Schools (2014), the most well-documented report
showing significantly different outcomes—especially for low-income students—in
schools “operated by the district” versus new charters.)
I hear you saying: I think you’re dreaming … building a case
based on a few examples. Only DPS shows
this is a deliberate strategy, not just an attempt to fend off state
intervention. Surely you know that most
of the “big” 15 districts (over 17,000 students) are not ready to surrender
control. They have been doing business
the old way for so long…. It is naïve to suggest K-12 public education is
making such a transformation.
Of course you
would be right. But let’s see what
works, and where this goes. Yes, my interpretation may be wishful thinking ….
And yet, for all the fury over the power of our school boards of late, a few
are taking steps to let go—ensuring
that real control belongs where teachers teach and students learn: in the schools.
Addendum A – Denver Public Schools
“Denver school
board sets course toward more decentralized district,” by Jaclyn Zubrzycki
“Starting next school year, all
principals in Denver will have the
option to select and buy their own curriculum, school-based testing
programs, professional development plans, and potentially to choose more
of the programs and employees in their buildings.[3]
“Those are some early steps
in a plan to decentralize decision-making and significantly change
how Denver Public Schools works with its schools. ….
“The idea is to create more independent schools and turn
principals into ‘chief strategists’ — a move that will have ripple
effects both for teachers and students and for the central office staff
who have traditionally worked with schools.
“This is the first time all
district schools, not just charters and those that specifically request it,
would have this degree of control
over their programs.
“DPS board members and staff said
they will begin to flesh out the details of the changes and what
more flexibility for budgets,
hiring, transportation, scheduling, accountability, and more might look
like in coming weeks.
“Board members say the changes
are an attempt to execute the vision they laid out last year in
the updated Denver Plan,
a set of goals for improving student achievement and school quality by
2020. “The Denver Plan describes
more flexibility for schools as one
of the district’s key strategies.
“‘How do we make sure we’re
walking the walk and not saying you have flexibility
with one hand and taking it away with the other?’ said DPS
Superintendent Tom Boasberg.
Board members Barbara O’Brien and
Anne Rowe described visits to schools where they said school
staff currently felt stymied by supposed supports from district
offices. ‘Part of the culture shift has to be more respect for the autonomy of the school and their ability to
control their days,’ O’Brien said….”
National trend, local changes
“The idea of decentralizing
power and changing the roles of bureaucracies has gained traction in
many urban school systems in recent years, partly in tandem
with the growing school choice movement and particularly charter schools,
which have control over most aspects of
their operations and programming.
"The strategy is often tied
to an approach to governance known as ‘portfolio management.’ … Rather than managing and directly running programs at schools,
a district’s central office is responsible for approving, monitoring,
evaluating, and providing services to a portfolio of more-independent
schools and ‘investing’ in those that work. Budgeting is shifted so that
schools can select and pay for certain services or staffing
arrangement rather than having services paid for and distributed at
the district level.
"The idea is not new in
Denver. DPS already has dozens of charter schools and more than 30 innovation
schools, which can request flexibility
from certain district policies, such as the length of a school day.”
Chalkbeat Colorado, (http://co.chalkbeat.org/2015/05/12/denver-school-board-sets-course-toward-more-decentralized-district/#.VjuGOPmrTIU)
**
From Denver Public School website: “The Portfolio Management Team cultivates,
authorizes, launches, and oversees high-quality autonomous schools (i.e., District-run, Innovation and, Charter) in
the Denver Public School (DPS) system. Empowered by the Denver Plan, the
Portfolio Management Team embraces
school autonomy, high performance standards, clear accountability,
parent/guardian choice, and broad stakeholder engagement.” (http://portfolio.dpsk12.org/)
Addendum B – Aurora Public Schools
“Aurora’s school
improvement plan earns blessing from state board…,” by Susan Gonzalez and
Nic Garcia
“The State Board of Education has given Aurora
Public Schools the green light to move ahead with freeing
some of its struggling schools from bureaucratic red tape in order to improve student learning.” Chalkbeat Colorado, http://co.chalkbeat.org/2015/06/10/auroras-school-improvement-plan-earns-blessing-from-state-board-with-some-reservations/#.VkjLOvmrTIV
“Aurora chief pitches broad reform plan to
save Central high from state sanctions,” by Nic Garcia
“The proposal to create three
“innovation zones” comes as the district is beginning preliminary conversations
with the Colorado Department of Education about the future of the struggling Aurora Central High School.
“Based mostly on test scores and
graduation rates, Aurora Central has been rated by the state as
a chronically underperforming school for five years. If there isn’t
drastic improvement by the end of the school year, Aurora Central will likely
face state sanctions.
Innovation zones are clusters of
school that are given innovation status under a 2008 state law. Similar to
charter schools, those schools are
granted waivers from school district and state policies and
regulations and usually any collective bargaining agreement the district
has with its teacher and classified unions. Waivers usually lead to different
school programs, calendars, and one-year contracts with teachers.
“School leaders at innovation
schools also usually have greater
flexibility with their budget and professional development for staff.”
Chalkbeat Colorado, http://co.chalkbeat.org/2015/03/18/aurora-chief-pitches-broad-reform-plan-to-save-central-high-from-state-sanctions/#.VjjoLfmrTIU
Addendum C – Pueblo City Schools
“Innovation born of student need,” by Gayle Perez (11/24/15)
“With a vision of
education reform through ingenious ideas and freedom from traditional policies, the Colorado State Legislature
agreed seven years ago to institute the concept of innovation schools.
Passed in 2008,
the Innovation School Act allowed for flexibility
for schools and districts as a way to better meet the needs of students.
“The law was born
out of a request from school leaders who wanted the same flexibility that charter schools have with finances, particularly
in using them to implement programs and
ideas that best meet the needs of their students.
“The law allows
for directors of the innovation schools to seek
waivers from certain policies and rules if they prohibit the schools from
implementing innovative ideas and different approaches to education….”
Pueblo Chieftain, http://www.chieftain.com/news/education/4026361-120/innovation-schools-born-risley#sthash.GXUQwCPb.dpuf.
“District ponders innovation zone,” by Gayle Perez (11/26/15)
“Based on the positive cultural changes already experienced at the
Roncalli STEM Academy, Risley International School of Innovation and Pueblo
Academy of Arts (formerly Pitts), district leaders are moving forward with a
plan to make three additional schools of innovation at Irving, Minnequa and Ben
Franklin elementary schools. “There’s a real need for improvement, we can’t
just continue on the same path when you’re not seeing evidence of improvement.
That’s when you look at other avenues,” said Gina Gallegos, director of
continuous improvement and innovation. ‘Just the term innovation, what does
that mean? It means thinking differently and that’s what we’re doing, we’re
thinking differently,’ she said. ‘It can’t continue that our kids aren’t
achieving at the levels that they need to.’” Pueblo Chieftain, http://www.chieftain.com/news/education/4037050-120/innovation-schools-zone-improvement#sthash.G1TPtXWr.dpuf
Another View, a newsletter by Peter Huidekoper,
represents his own opinion and is not intended to represent the
view of any organization he is associated with. Comments are welcome. 303-757-1225 / peterhdkpr@gmail.com
[1]October
email from my niece in Thailand: “What’s going on here Pete?” – with link to a NY Times article on Jeffco.
[2] The Washington Post, Nov 1,
2015: “In Denver suburb, a school board race morphs into $1 million ‘proxy
war’”
[3] Throughout this newsletter, to highlight
terms related to autonomy and flexibility, all bold mine.
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