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Children in Crisis: Looking for Solutions
District of Columbia Financial Responsibility and Management Assistance AuthorityNovember 12, 1996
Looking for Solutions in Alternative Approaches
Most observers agree that DCPS has many problems. There is no question that the current financial condition and managerial shortcomings have a significant impact on the education, safety, and development of the children attending DCPS. However, the issue that causes controversy is not "Is there a problem?", but "How large is it?" and "How can it be solved?"DCPS is not the first school system to face educational and operational problems. Other jurisdictions have had to deal with failing school systems as well. Several states have realized the importance of a quality education, have stepped in to stop the hemorrhaging within the a school system, and are working to restore managerial and educational competency.
State Intervention
The State of New Jersey is an example of a state that reformed school systems to improve outcomes. Over the past several years, New Jersey has intervened in three school systems (Paterson, Jersey City, and Newark) to prevent continuing educational failure. As the administrative law judge who ordered the state education department to take over the troubled Newark school system stated, "Evidence shows that the longer children remain in the Newark public schools (NPS), the less likely they are to succeed academically." It is failure such as this that New Jersey hopes to stop. In each of the three school systems, the locally elected Board of Education was abolished, the Superintendent was fired, and a new Superintendent was appointed by the State. While it is too soon measure educational improvements, the new administrations have resulted in better management within the school systems and more efficient allocation of resources. In NPS, the difference was noticeable to students from the first day of school -- bathrooms were cleaned and doors were installed for privacy. Classrooms were cleaned so that students could, at a minimum, have a clean environment in which to learn. Under state leadership, NPS developed first year action goals, one of which was to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the central administration. To meet this goal, NPS redesigned its educational and operational functions as well as its overall organization.In this instance, the state realized that the school system, left to its own devices, would collapse. As a result, New Jersey took action to correct educational and management shortcomings, improving the overall efficiency and effectiveness of the educational process.
Another example of state intervention occurred in California. In 1993, the State of California declared Compton Unified School District a financial and academic failure. The district was accruing debt, and its students' test scores were among the lowest in the state. When the district requested a $20 million bail-out from the state, a judge ordered that a state-appointed administrator assume the powers of the School Board and replace the current Superintendent. Compton Unified was in need of substantial reform: school books and materials were in short supply, facilities needed repair, and the system was the city's largest employer when it could least afford to be.
The state-appointed Superintendent stopped the school district's financial hemorrhaging and increased academic achievement in three years. The district planned a $12 million building repair "blitz," repaid a portion of its debt, and balanced its budget. Academic programs were rewritten and test scores for students in elementary and junior high schools increased.
City Intervention
States are not the only government entities that have taken over school systems. The City of Chicago also intervened in the Chicago Public Schools (CPS). The Illinois State Legislature passed a law that gave the Mayor of Chicago responsibility for the school system. The Mayor quickly intervened to prevent any further degradation in the educational and management capacity of the school system.The team that was selected by the Mayor from his own staffto operate the public schools has made significant strides in turning the management and the educational programs of CPS around. Within the first few weeks, the new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) balanced the budget, erasing a $1.3 billion deficit over four years. The CEO also ended labor unrest, improved facilities, and created new education programs designed to eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse.
While these managerial improvements are significant, they are only the beginning in revitalizing CPS. Without improvements in educational outcomes, managerial efficiency becomes insignificant. Realizing this, CPS began to improve its educational program. It has created an educational program that encompasses all grade levels and all types of educational offerings. It no longer allows social promotion. In short, CPS, with the assistance and support of the Mayor of Chicago, has improved the quality of education being offered to its students.
Similar to Chicago, the City of Seattle sought leadership and managerial skills, rather than educational experience. Faced with fiscal crises, declining enrollment, mediocre test scores, and low test scores for minority students, the Seattle School Board wanted a leader with management and leadership abilities to turn the school system around before the State did it for them.
Since accepting the position in June of 1995, the new Superintendent has developed system-wide standards for students at each grade level, instituted a district-wide reading campaign, and established corporate partnerships with the schools. In a short period of time, student achievement on standardized tests improved. The Superintendent was able to rally the public's support for a school district operating expenses levy -- only one year after a similar proposal failed. His efforts to fix the district's financial problems, while encouraging principals and teachers to improve educational methods, have succeeded.
| "We need to stop and admit our failures and start all over again for the children in the District of Columbia . . . The DC Board of Education is in crisis and we are not serving our children well and we need to own up to it and fix it." -- Wilma Harvey, Ward 1 School Board representative, from the transcript of public hearing before the Authority on August 9, 1996, p. 109
"Maybe we need an all powerful schools czar, with complete and total authority to fix it up. It 's terrible, but at this point in time, maybe some drama is needed " |
Focusing on Student Success
In all these examples, what was missing before state or city intervention was a focus on the educational mission of the school system. It took an outside party to refocus the school system on its primary mission: educating children. Prior to state or city intervention, there was no link between responsibility and accountability and no concern to ensure that all the resources were allocated as efficiently and effectively as possible. Likewise, the systems lacked any real business support to effectively manage multimillion dollar operations.
Lessons Learned
Currently, DCPS is where Chicago and Newark Public Schools were two or three years ago -- managerially inept and educationally ineffective. The experiences of sister school districts suggest some positive steps that the District can take to improve its public education system.
- New managerial and educational capacity - need to be injected into the education system in order to stabilize and improve it
- The linkage between individual responsibility and accountability for results must be reestablished if the public education system is to value success
- Performance goals must be set - if the system is to make any progress toward improving education and operations
The Children Come First
There is no question that the District's children are its most important resource as well as its most important responsibility. Furthermore, there is no question that the leadership charged with ensuring that our children receive a quality education in a safe environment has failed to carry out its responsibilities. Already too many children have suffered as a result of the mismanagement, uninspired leadership, and institutional disregard of the current public school system. If nothing is done to correct this failure, then the community and the leadership of the District also will have failed these children.The Authority recognizes that the District of Columbia Public Schools must be revitalized. If the community is ever to do justice for these children educationally, it must demand an end to the school system's inept methods. Revitalizing the school system requires radical change. The current system has consistently failed to serve the students adequately and must be replaced by one more committed to meeting our children's needs. If the quality of education is ever to improve and we are to make a difference in the lives of our children, then parents, teachers, public of ficials, and other members of the community must insist upon a new direction.
We can and must improve the quality of education for our children's and our city's future. The Authority's expectations of any education reform are quite simple:
- Improve academic achievement
- Increase attendance and graduation rates, and expand linkages to higher education and employment opportunities
- Improve physical conditions and safety in the schools
- Ensure that an effective management structure supports the education of every child
In the preceding four chapters, we have detailed the failures of the entities charged with leading and managing the public schools. It is clear from this appraisal that the situation is critical and that failing to act immediately will only condemn our children to unacceptable conditions, educationally, physically, psychologically and emotionally. Failure is not an option. The Authority is determined to improve the quality of education within the District. We owe it to the citizens of this community, but most importantly, we owe it to the children who attend the District's public schools. They must come first.