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Voices in Urban Education
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Sustaining Reform
VUE Number 9, Fall 2005
| VUE Home | Archives | Order Print Copy |
EXCERPT:
Communities and School Boards: The Keys to Sustaining Reform
By David Wynde
David Wynde has been co-chair of the board of education of Portland Public Schools since January 2005 and a board member since 2003.
> Author's Biography
A reinvigorated school board and community partners have set the Portland, Oregon, school district on a reform course.
In Portland Public Schools, we are committed to a school reform agenda to ensure that we offer the education that our students need to be successful in the complex and competitive world they face in the early twenty-first century. Our commitment is to every student, in every school, in every corner of our city.
One of the critical questions in any school reform agenda is how to sustain the work and the changes over time. We believe that there are at least three components that must be aligned to ensure the long-term success of the agenda: a school board to enact the policies, a superintendent to provide the leadership, and a community that demands and supports the work. It is often this final element, the relationship with the broader community, that is missing. In Portland, we have much work to do to build the community engagement that we think is necessary for long-term success for our students and our school district, but there are a number of ways in which the work to date has been supported by key community partners.
In this telling of Portland's story, I want to describe what Portland is doing and the role of the school board and other organizations in that effort.
Background
Portland Public Schools (PPS) is the largest district in the Pacific Northwest, with 47,656 students, approximately one hundred schools, and fifty specialneeds sites. The district is quite diverse: more than 40 percent of students are members of ethnic minorities (including 16 percent African American, 13 percent Hispanic, 10 percent Asian American, and 2 percent Native American); 43 percent of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunches; 14 percent require special education services; and eighty-five different languages are spoken at home, with 11 percent of students receiving English-languagelearner services.
For many years, Portland was characterized by weak leadership, both in the superintendent's office and on the school board. After one superintendent was bought out of his contract in 2001, there was a failed search for a replacement. The school board was divided and fractious and perceived as unprofessional.
In 2003, though, the district leadership turned a corner. Four new members were elected to the school board, resulting in a much more effective board with a clear primary focus on student achievement. In 2004 we hired Vicki Phillips, former Pennsylvania secretary of education, as superintendent to build on the reform agenda we had adopted. In a short time, she has demonstrated strong leadership in improving the atmosphere in the school district dramatically and has changed the tone of the conversation about PPS in the broader community.
Archives
Sustaining Reform
VUE Number 9, Fall 2005
| VUE Home | Archives | Order Print Copy |
EXCERPT:
Communities and School Boards: The Keys to Sustaining Reform
By David Wynde
David Wynde has been co-chair of the board of education of Portland Public Schools since January 2005 and a board member since 2003.
> Author's Biography
A reinvigorated school board and community partners have set the Portland, Oregon, school district on a reform course.
In Portland Public Schools, we are committed to a school reform agenda to ensure that we offer the education that our students need to be successful in the complex and competitive world they face in the early twenty-first century. Our commitment is to every student, in every school, in every corner of our city.
One of the critical questions in any school reform agenda is how to sustain the work and the changes over time. We believe that there are at least three components that must be aligned to ensure the long-term success of the agenda: a school board to enact the policies, a superintendent to provide the leadership, and a community that demands and supports the work. It is often this final element, the relationship with the broader community, that is missing. In Portland, we have much work to do to build the community engagement that we think is necessary for long-term success for our students and our school district, but there are a number of ways in which the work to date has been supported by key community partners.
In this telling of Portland's story, I want to describe what Portland is doing and the role of the school board and other organizations in that effort.
Background
Portland Public Schools (PPS) is the largest district in the Pacific Northwest, with 47,656 students, approximately one hundred schools, and fifty specialneeds sites. The district is quite diverse: more than 40 percent of students are members of ethnic minorities (including 16 percent African American, 13 percent Hispanic, 10 percent Asian American, and 2 percent Native American); 43 percent of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunches; 14 percent require special education services; and eighty-five different languages are spoken at home, with 11 percent of students receiving English-languagelearner services.
For many years, Portland was characterized by weak leadership, both in the superintendent's office and on the school board. After one superintendent was bought out of his contract in 2001, there was a failed search for a replacement. The school board was divided and fractious and perceived as unprofessional.
In 2003, though, the district leadership turned a corner. Four new members were elected to the school board, resulting in a much more effective board with a clear primary focus on student achievement. In 2004 we hired Vicki Phillips, former Pennsylvania secretary of education, as superintendent to build on the reform agenda we had adopted. In a short time, she has demonstrated strong leadership in improving the atmosphere in the school district dramatically and has changed the tone of the conversation about PPS in the broader community.
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