Melanie Smollin | TakePart - Inspiration to Action http://bit.ly/k3EJz2
New York City, Los Angeles and Chicago are the three largest school districts in the country. Together, these mega-districts educate 2.2 million students and house almost 3,000 schools. And together they made national headlines this month for the exact same reason: Each has a newly appointed schools chief.
The school systems in Chicago, New York and Los Angeles have all gone back to the blackboard—from the top down. (Photo: Shonk/Creative Commons)
On April 7, New York City’s Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced the abrupt resignation of schools chancellor Cathie Black, and subsequently tapped deputy mayor Dennis M. Walcott to be her replacement.
Superintendent Ramon Cortines retired from the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) on April 15, and former deputy superintendent John Deasy took his place.
On April 18, incoming Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel named Jean-Claude Brizard the new head of his city’s school district.
The new chiefs face daunting budget deficits, pending teacher layoffs, lagging student achievement, union contract negotiations, and community discord. Are they up for the challenge?
Here’s TakePart’s list of the three most important things you should know about each.
EDUCATION BACKGROUND
Critics of New York's Cathie Black argued that it’s difficult for non-educators to inspire confidence in teachers, parents, administrators and the general public.
The good news is that all three new chiefs have backgrounds in education, to varying degrees.
NYC: Walcott's teaching experience is very limited—he taught kindergarten for 18 months in 1974. He has a teaching license for elementary grades K-6, a master’s degree in education, and firsthand experience with NYC public schools as a student, parent and grandparent. Mayor Bloomberg points out that as deputy mayor, Walcott “visited hundreds of schools” and was City Hall’s liaison to the school system for the past nine years.
CHICAGO: A native of Haiti, Brizard has worked in education for more than two decades. He’s a former teacher and school principal with a master’s degree in school administration and science education. Brizard is also a graduate of the Broad Foundation’s Superintendents Academy. Most recently, he served as superintendent in Rochester, New York, a predominantly low-income minority school district that struggles with achievement.
L.A.: Of all three new leaders, Deasy has the most experience as a superintendant. He spent more than 12 years leading school districts in Rhode Island, Santa Monica-Malibu and Prince George's County. Like Brizard, he completed Broad’s executive training program. Most recently, Deasy worked as a top official at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
LEADERSHIP STYLE
Perceived leadership skills are crucial to widespread public acceptance and approval of superintendents.
NYC: Walcott is known for being a reform-minded leader with a softer touch who is skilled at garnering public support for change and responding to community concerns. In his first few weeks in office, Walcott promised to not speak ill of teachers, to embrace a tone of civility and cooperation, and to simplify the role of principals in his district.
CHICAGO: Brizard’s style is described as “one of outreach and responsiveness” by former colleagues in New York. He’s been known to hold regular meetings with parents and administrators to find out what’s going on in schools. However, his relationship with the teachers’ union in Rochester was tumultuous, and teachers gave him a vote of no confidence after he promoted policies they disagreed with.
L.A.: Superintendent John Deasy’s no-nonsense results-oriented leadership has earned him the respect of city officials and educators alike. Judy Perez, president of Associated Administrators Los Angeles, and A.J. Duffy, president of United Teachers Los Angeles, both expressed confidence in his capabilities. Deasy’s stated goals include improving parent and community engagement, and bringing greater civility to LAUSD. “If we can't treat each other everywhere in the district with dignity,” says Deasy, “we won't see the dignity in our students."
REFORM AGENDA
All three superintendents appear to embrace the Obama administration’s federal school reform agenda.
CHICAGO: Brizard is known for his efforts to close low-performing schools, fire underperforming principals, promote charter schools, and link teacher pay to student test scores. He and his boss Mayor Emanuel support pending legislation that will lengthen the school day and school year, and reduce the importance of seniority in teacher layoffs.
NYC: Wolcott promises to press forward with Mayor Bloomberg’s policy agenda, which includes getting rid of last-in-first-out seniority rules, supporting charter school development, and closing low performing schools. “I believe in what we’re doing, and I haven’t had any evidence that what we’re doing is wrong,” Walcott says.
L.A.: Deasy recently introduced a performance management system that will be the centerpiece of his administration. All schools, educators and administrators (himself included) will be tasked with meeting 15 goals. These include almost doubling the percentage of students who read at grade level in third grade, and raising high school graduation rates to 70 percent by the end of the 2013-14 school year. Deasy is also planning to revamp teacher evaluations to include student test scores, promote charter school development, and focus on the use of data to improve schools.
On his first day as LAUSD’s superintendent, Deasy could have spoken for all three new chiefs when he said: "I did wake up this morning aware that all of the responsibility is on me. There is huge work in front of us. But we're not going to talk about the work…we're just going to get it done."
Photo: Shonk/Creative Commons via Flickr.
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