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Voices in Urban Education
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Smart Districts
VUE Number 5, Fall 2004
| VUE Home | Archives | Order Print Copy |
EXCERPT:
A Community-Led Reform:
Improving Schools in the South Bronx
This article is also available in full as a PDF file. [8 pages]
By Ocynthia Williams
Parent Leader, Community Collaborative to Improve District Nine Schools in the South Bronx.
> Complete bio
In a low-income section of New York City, parents and community activists have organized a grass-roots effort to improve teaching in local schools, and succeeding in persuading school officials to implement their plan.
In the South Bronx section of New York City, parents have proven without a doubt that the oft-quoted adage “It takes a village to raise a child” is not just a cliché, but a genuine prescription for real school reform. Engaging the entire school community to make changes in how children are raised and taught in school has been a tireless effort of the three-year-old Community Collaborative to Improve District Nine Schools, or CC9.
CC9 is an extraordinary parentled community group, made up of six community-based organizations and a university, whose primary goal is to improve the quality of education for children in the South Bronx, where Community District 9, one of thirtytwo community districts in New York City, is located. Each of the six organizations that make up CC9 — ACORN, Citizens Advice Bureau, Highbridge Community Life Center, Mid Bronx Council, New Settlement Apartments, and the Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition — brings with it more than twenty years of experience in rebuilding its part of the South Bronx. CC9's university partner, New York University's (NYU) Institute for Education and Social Policy, provides technical and coordinating support.
Because of their ability to reach thousands of residents, and because of their relationship with local political leaders, all of the organizations have the political clout needed for CC9 to make systemwide as well as local improvements in education. What makes CC9 powerful and effective is that we are a parent-led group, meaning that all campaigns are developed and driven by parents and community residents.With the aid of the six organizers hired for the community-based organizations, we have been able to move our campaigns forward at a steady pace.
Building the Movement
After thirty years of having to deal with as many as twenty-five different superintendents, corrupt school board members, and an unstable teaching force, CC9 decided that it was time for real change and that it was going to be a new day in District 9. The district had been at the bottom of the totem pole in academics, parent involvement, and resource distribution for far too long. The children were being treated unfairly. We were not going to accept that kind of inequity any more and were no longer going to sit back and allow the system to fail our children.
CC9 realized that, for effective and sustainable change to happen in our schools, we would have to take the lead in making the changes and confront the system head on. So we convened numerous meetings, held retreats, and came up with a plan we believed represented some of the answers to the question of how to create real change. Our vision for school change, the Platform for Educational Improvement, was ambitious, creative, and innovative.
The three-point proposal supported teachers and principals, and it was designed to build true parent-school and community partnerships and improve academics. The first point called for a highly skilled and well-trained teaching force. Although we believe District 9 has many excellent teachers, we need more. And we believe they must be recruited and retained in the South Bronx. The second point calls for effective principals to lead the school-change process. School-improvement research puts the role of the principal at the center of successful schools, and we believe that principals need the time and skills to function as instructional leaders in their schools. The third point calls for real family and community partnerships. CC9 feels that the distance between schools and the community must be reduced and that parents and teachers must work together in collaboration to benefit the children.
Archives
Smart Districts
VUE Number 5, Fall 2004
| VUE Home | Archives | Order Print Copy |
EXCERPT:
A Community-Led Reform:Improving Schools in the South Bronx
This article is also available in full as a PDF file. [8 pages]
By Ocynthia Williams
Parent Leader, Community Collaborative to Improve District Nine Schools in the South Bronx.
> Complete bio
In a low-income section of New York City, parents and community activists have organized a grass-roots effort to improve teaching in local schools, and succeeding in persuading school officials to implement their plan.
In the South Bronx section of New York City, parents have proven without a doubt that the oft-quoted adage “It takes a village to raise a child” is not just a cliché, but a genuine prescription for real school reform. Engaging the entire school community to make changes in how children are raised and taught in school has been a tireless effort of the three-year-old Community Collaborative to Improve District Nine Schools, or CC9.
CC9 is an extraordinary parentled community group, made up of six community-based organizations and a university, whose primary goal is to improve the quality of education for children in the South Bronx, where Community District 9, one of thirtytwo community districts in New York City, is located. Each of the six organizations that make up CC9 — ACORN, Citizens Advice Bureau, Highbridge Community Life Center, Mid Bronx Council, New Settlement Apartments, and the Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition — brings with it more than twenty years of experience in rebuilding its part of the South Bronx. CC9's university partner, New York University's (NYU) Institute for Education and Social Policy, provides technical and coordinating support.
Because of their ability to reach thousands of residents, and because of their relationship with local political leaders, all of the organizations have the political clout needed for CC9 to make systemwide as well as local improvements in education. What makes CC9 powerful and effective is that we are a parent-led group, meaning that all campaigns are developed and driven by parents and community residents.With the aid of the six organizers hired for the community-based organizations, we have been able to move our campaigns forward at a steady pace.
Building the Movement
After thirty years of having to deal with as many as twenty-five different superintendents, corrupt school board members, and an unstable teaching force, CC9 decided that it was time for real change and that it was going to be a new day in District 9. The district had been at the bottom of the totem pole in academics, parent involvement, and resource distribution for far too long. The children were being treated unfairly. We were not going to accept that kind of inequity any more and were no longer going to sit back and allow the system to fail our children.
CC9 realized that, for effective and sustainable change to happen in our schools, we would have to take the lead in making the changes and confront the system head on. So we convened numerous meetings, held retreats, and came up with a plan we believed represented some of the answers to the question of how to create real change. Our vision for school change, the Platform for Educational Improvement, was ambitious, creative, and innovative.
The three-point proposal supported teachers and principals, and it was designed to build true parent-school and community partnerships and improve academics. The first point called for a highly skilled and well-trained teaching force. Although we believe District 9 has many excellent teachers, we need more. And we believe they must be recruited and retained in the South Bronx. The second point calls for effective principals to lead the school-change process. School-improvement research puts the role of the principal at the center of successful schools, and we believe that principals need the time and skills to function as instructional leaders in their schools. The third point calls for real family and community partnerships. CC9 feels that the distance between schools and the community must be reduced and that parents and teachers must work together in collaboration to benefit the children.
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