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December 12, 2007
The power in partnershipsBoardBuzz was delighted to see NSBA Executive Director Anne L. Bryant's commentary in this week's edition of Education Week. Bryant took on one of our favorite topics -- mayoral takeovers -- and nailed it! BoardBuzz has covered the takeover attempt in Los Angeles, and the outright takeover in D.C. in the past.
Bryant argues that instead of takeovers, what mayors should be focusing on is partnerships with school boards, citing San Francisco as a superlative example.
What is outmoded is not the idea of school board governance, but the belief that takeovers are the direction school systems need to move in order to be successful. The power lies not in takeovers, but in partnerships. Mayors and school boards working together in collaboration, each bringing their expertise to benefit the schools and the community as a whole, is the answer for urban districts. In fact, such partnerships are working in districts across the country.Mayor Gavin Newsom and the San Francisco school board have a downright collegial relationship. They recently worked together to sign an unprecedented agreement providing more than $40 million in school-based and school-linked services to the children and families of San Francisco, building on existing partnerships between the city and the school system. Rather than butting heads, plotting takeover attempts, and creating a hostile environment, Mayor Newsom has taken steps to form an alliance. This is the kind of collaboration mayors should be entering into with their boards. This city and school district are moving forward with the best interests of their students at heart.
BoardBuzz's favorite part of Bryant's commentary, and a solidly valid point, argues that with all the city management issues that mayors deal with on a day-to-day basis, adding running the schools to the list is probably not the wisest idea.
School boards deal with the tough issues on a daily basis: hiring and retaining a highly qualified superintendent, increasing student achievement, collective bargaining with teachers’ unions, changing school boundaries to ensure diversity, creating healthy environments so that all students feel safe and nurtured, and many others. Mayors, who are charged with handling a host of city-management issues, should not be adding these vital activities to their already full plates. Student achievement and snow removal do not, and should not, go hand in hand.
Zinger!
Education Week will be hosting an online chat with Kenneth Wong and Francis Shen on their new book, The Education Mayor Thursday, Dec. 13, from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. , and we can't wait to see the discussion this generates. What's your take on takeovers? Leave us a comment and tell us about it.
Posted December 12, 2007 1:09 PM | School Boards
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