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Voices in Urban Education
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Engaging Communities
VUE Number 13, Fall 2006
| VUE Home | Archives | Order Print Copy |
EXCERPT:
Urban School Boards and Their Communities
By Donald R. McAdams
Donald R. McAdams is president of the Center for Reform of School Systems.
> Complete bio
School boards derive democratic power from the people or from the people's elected representatives. Because of this, they can provide the leadership to redesign school districts and sustain reforms over time that provide equity and results for all children.
Audio Clip
LISTEN [22 minutes, 25 seconds]
Voices in Urban Education editor Robert Rothman has a conversation with Norm Fruchter and Don McAdams about engaging communities.
Who is in charge of America's urban schools? Everyone and no one. Americans love divided government, and schools are no exception. We have diffused power over schools to state legislatures, school districts, the federal government, state and federal courts, and, de facto, to education professionals and teachers unions. And yet, though power is diffused, school boards, arguably, have the balance of power.
School districts are the units that can most powerfully and quickly create good schools for all children in a community or allow good schools to drift into mediocrity – and school boards govern school districts.With rare exceptions, they are the body that, more than any other, determines the quality of education for urban children.
Boards select and evaluate superintendents, approve budgets, provide financial and management oversight, take the lead in campaigns for bond or tax levy elections, lobby legislatures for policy changes or additional resources, approve policies required to maintain the smooth operations of the district, and get directly involved in politically charged policy issues such as major facilities construction and renovation, property acquisition, the location of new schools, desegregation litigation, magnet programs, attendance boundaries, school calendars, and textbook selection.
In addition to these "routine" governance responsibilities, boards committed to high achievement for all children must put forward a powerful vision for change, craft an overarching strategy for change — what I call a theory of action — and, through bold policy leadership, begin the work of redesigning their district. Fine-tuning the "one best system" (Tyack 1974) won't do the job.
The almost revolutionary changes required to redesign urban school districts are not just management changes. They cannot be accomplished in a few years, and they cannot be accomplished without broad community support. Only school boards — because of the democratic power they derive from the people or the people's elected representatives, because of their close links with the people, and because of their stability — can provide the leadership required to redesign and sustain over decades school districts that provide equity and results for all children.
Board members, particularly those who are elected, are representatives. They cannot ignore public opinion. But all board members are also trustees. They have been given the authority to lead, and lead they must. They have an obligation to understand the complexities of urban school reform at a level well beyond their most informed constituents. They have an obligation to read, travel, and think so that they can understand, explain, and lead.
Archives
Engaging Communities
VUE Number 13, Fall 2006
| VUE Home | Archives | Order Print Copy |
EXCERPT:
Urban School Boards and Their Communities
By Donald R. McAdamsDonald R. McAdams is president of the Center for Reform of School Systems.
> Complete bio
School boards derive democratic power from the people or from the people's elected representatives. Because of this, they can provide the leadership to redesign school districts and sustain reforms over time that provide equity and results for all children.
Audio Clip
LISTEN [22 minutes, 25 seconds]
Voices in Urban Education editor Robert Rothman has a conversation with Norm Fruchter and Don McAdams about engaging communities.
Who is in charge of America's urban schools? Everyone and no one. Americans love divided government, and schools are no exception. We have diffused power over schools to state legislatures, school districts, the federal government, state and federal courts, and, de facto, to education professionals and teachers unions. And yet, though power is diffused, school boards, arguably, have the balance of power.
School districts are the units that can most powerfully and quickly create good schools for all children in a community or allow good schools to drift into mediocrity – and school boards govern school districts.With rare exceptions, they are the body that, more than any other, determines the quality of education for urban children.
Boards select and evaluate superintendents, approve budgets, provide financial and management oversight, take the lead in campaigns for bond or tax levy elections, lobby legislatures for policy changes or additional resources, approve policies required to maintain the smooth operations of the district, and get directly involved in politically charged policy issues such as major facilities construction and renovation, property acquisition, the location of new schools, desegregation litigation, magnet programs, attendance boundaries, school calendars, and textbook selection.
In addition to these "routine" governance responsibilities, boards committed to high achievement for all children must put forward a powerful vision for change, craft an overarching strategy for change — what I call a theory of action — and, through bold policy leadership, begin the work of redesigning their district. Fine-tuning the "one best system" (Tyack 1974) won't do the job.
The almost revolutionary changes required to redesign urban school districts are not just management changes. They cannot be accomplished in a few years, and they cannot be accomplished without broad community support. Only school boards — because of the democratic power they derive from the people or the people's elected representatives, because of their close links with the people, and because of their stability — can provide the leadership required to redesign and sustain over decades school districts that provide equity and results for all children.
Board members, particularly those who are elected, are representatives. They cannot ignore public opinion. But all board members are also trustees. They have been given the authority to lead, and lead they must. They have an obligation to understand the complexities of urban school reform at a level well beyond their most informed constituents. They have an obligation to read, travel, and think so that they can understand, explain, and lead.
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