Last week I attended the UTL Spring Teach-in about Mayoral Control. The panelists were Dr. David Hursh (UR Professor), Anthony Plonczynski (Assistant Director of David T. Kearns Center), and Dan Drmacich (Principal of School Without Walls). The discussion really got me passionate and full of energy about the topic, especially when people from the community stood up and started sharing their concerns and stories. This rant is in response (and in much agreement) to the comments said by the panelists.
I do not understand why there are people who think the issues of education can be solved by having the Mayor take control of the schools. Dr. Hursh mentioned that there are so many other issues our mayor should be focusing on (transportation, jobs, lead poisoning, etc), ending his speech with “the mayor should rethink his plan.” In NYC, the mayor removes board members who do not agree or who he just does not want. Parents feel they have no voice. Teachers can be fired without meeting with the school board to make that decision. Potential results this change might bring include increased privatization of schools, more emphasis on standardized tests, and less parental input into schools. How can they just take away our school boards and therefore be taking away our input, our democracy? School boards should remain as advocates for school and the education system, where the mayor should be behind them, supporting them, while being an advocate for his city.
Yes, ok, so we realize something should be done about our school system including student performance and community and parental involvement. But how is it that people think mayoral control is the solution to those problems? We can’t yet. There is no evidence. How are we supposed to know this is change we can believe in? It might simply be that we do not know enough about our own school system, and with the right procedures and changes, this whole upheaval of the entire system could be avoided. Why do we need a deputy major of education when we have a superintendent? The proposal of mayoral control diminishes democracy for our community, our parents, our teachers and our students who want to have input on policies. According to what Dan Drmacich said, the only reason that SWW is still in existence is because of the say that the people of the community had. People attempted to shut down SWW and because of the community and the school board, the school was protected and that was the only way it was saved.
The question arose, does mayoral control mean there is going to be increased emphasis on test preps so students can pass the Regents? This will simply turn the schools into factories. What will those students be leaving the district with and taking into the real world and be able to apply to unpredictable situations? Testing narrows the curriculum, and limits student growth and thinking as well as growth of innovative schools. SWW was named a “failure school” because of their graduation rate, however, those that calculate that number fail to put a face on those children. They do not consider if the student suffered from lead poisoning, or if they come from a single parent household, or if they have a second grade reading level in the ninth grade. They focus on a number, a percentage. They don’t ask, what did you do as a school to help each child? Or, how have you developed a constructivist approach for them, provided them with advisors, or set them up with internships? Those who are looking to control the school system do not know enough about it to begin with. How can we know the mayor will know what’s best for our schools? Doesn’t he already have enough other things he should be worrying about? I say, keep the school board, let them do their job, and let us have a say. I don’t know how we can let people wanting control over money come in the way of such an important issue.
Dan mentioned that Duffy wants control of the $119 million guaranteed to the district. Teachers are getting blamed for the low graduation rates and test scores. He just is not understanding education or schools. Although the mayor has good intentions, there are still some gaps, and not a complete understanding of what can best help our district. But there are issues even beyond test scores that need to be addressed. Radical change needs to happen. Do we really think that mayoral control is that change that we need? Why don’t they focus on the issue of poverty first? They say parents aren’t caring, but isn’t that sometimes because parents are “one paycheck away from poverty” and it is hard to be working three jobs and getting involved with their children’s schools at the same time? There needs to be something done about poverty first. Why doesn’t the mayor focus on that? Why isn’t that the number one priority? The panel mentioned that the link from the SES issue is making it also a racial issue. When we look at places where there is mayoral control, it is in cities with much racial diversity and urban schools. Hursh said it is like a racial attack, saying, “We don’t trust you to govern yourselves” so they are taking away the school board, and their right to vote! Why do they think this intervention could help? Why would replacing the school board with an educational panel, a city council and a special education board be the best solution? Why aren’t there better reasons for this change, and more planning behind all of this?
One of the most powerful moments of this forum was when a teacher from school 45 stood up and said that it makes her so extremely upset when people say, “we don’t know how to solve this problem.” Bringing herself to tears, she went on saying we, as teachers, DO have ideas of what needs to change. Why do they not ask teachers? She says there needs to be higher expectations of students, better discipline, and there should be accountability across all schools from kids, parents, teachers and administrators. One kindergarten student told this woman that he was going to punch her in the face and knock her teeth down her throat, and she sent him to the office only for him to get sent back to her class and spill her coffee on her lap. The students are not being asked to respect others, their school, or themselves. They aren’t being told to say the pledge of allegiance. According to this woman, and I agree, the school board needs to listen to the people who are IN the trenches. We (teachers), KNOW the answers. Or we can at least TRY to solve some of these issues by coming together to address something and foster change. “People need to start listening to us. The kids are dying spiritually” said the woman. She also said that if we get rid of the school board because they aren’t doing their job then it only makes sense that we then get rid of city council then too. And Anthony P was right when he said that this will teach us all a lesson– how important it is to go out and vote for your school board. Because now, we’re paying for it.
People have proposed that mayoral control should be approved 2 cycles in a row before being enacted. Or else it is just diminishing the local government’s control. However, the mayor said that cannot apply here because the school system is not a local government, and that it will have to be passed by the state and governor. The interesting point that a member of the community from the crowd brought up is that we, as a community, have to keep protesting, or we are going to let one of the most dysfunctional governing bodies in the nation impact us on a local decision.He mentioned that some people are afraid of dealing with this situation because of all the SES and cultural problems that are involved, making it so very serious. However, he said that if this issue was out of the urban setting and affecting more whites, that they would have already declared a “national emergency,” emphasizing the racial issue involved in this debate.
We know the mayor cares, but there are undoubtedly gaps in his understanding of what should be done and what could work in our schools. Last week at a church meeting where they were going to talk about mayoral control, the mayor popped up, taking the stage for 40 minutes. He knew the people he was going to be seeing and dealing with, the same people in the community who have been putting up a fight. What one man said was powerful– The mayor knew what people he was going to encounter and what he was going to say, although he still sounded unsure about some things. After hearing Dr. Hursh speak at this forum, the man told the entire room that the mayor already knows what he is going to face when he pops up to places like that. We NEED new people, and more professionals to pop up too. We need more academics to bring their research to the city and to speak up about this. The conversation cannot just be had among the same people, professionals have to go if there is to be a stronger influence. There was another meeting at their church last Friday where the press attended that I unfortunately could not go to because I was teaching. After the forum the people from this church talked to Dr. Hursh and he agreed to speak tonight at their church (see previous post!). I will be attending with a few other students from Warner and I hope others who see this can make it too! This is a major issue that will be affecting us all, and the stories I got to hear from the community members at that forum caused their passion on this subject to transfer to me. Let’s see if we can unite as a community of teachers, students, parents and concerned citizens, to make our voices heard.
I have included the two articles that were provided at the forum. One by Duffy as well as one by Cala, against mayoral control. Check out the contrasting views.
Duffy – Putting Children First
Commentary: Mayoral control doesn’t work and is wrong
Just kidding. At the beginning of the game our team was winning by about 15…the next two quarters it was about a 3 point game until we finally pulled away and beat them by 23. It was so terrible to have to hear the other team get upset and start screaming cheers that were making fun of our academics and basically calling my students stupid, being poor sports just because they were losing. However,it is so awesome how sports have a way of uniting everyone. I saw students I have that usually argue with each other in class or don’t get along, high-hiving each other during the game. We talk about sports uniting nations, and cities, and it has the same effect on high schools. In schools that are so diverse and when there are students that always have something to argue with one another about, there’s always that one thing that they can support together; their teams. When your team is down by five, you forget all those little fights you had with those sitting in the seats next to you and together you get nervous together, and you cheer louder. When your team is up by five, you share that same excitement and give high fives to each other, forgetting the fights you had in the past, because now you’re supporting something larger than yourself.