Together We Can Transform Our District
At first glance, the right-sizing of the Kansas City, Missouri School District (KCMSD) just feels wrong. It feels wrong to close more schools in struggling neighborhoods; to punish scholars with longer bus rides home; to let teachers go with little more than ‘we wish we didn’t have to’; to take beautiful buildings that used to stand for community and put boards in their windows; to ask families to burden a solution after years of school boards -- which now includes myself -- failing to fix the problems. In the storm of controversy, it is easy to overlookwhat is right in the journey we are on. Beyond all that may feel wrong, there is so much that is 'right' in our district and with the right-sizing plan. We should celebrate that our Superintendent has led a thoughtful and data-driven six-month, 3-stage process to arrive at the plan. - First, hundreds of Kansas Citians defined the process along with the Right-Sizing Taskforce, setting the criteria by which the administration ranked the schools. - Then the administration evaluated every district building, employing a data-driven analysis to reflect the priorities of the community. - Finally, we are in the stage where human realities push back against the unfeeling results of mere data. Now with community input tempering the quantitative analysis, we can also celebrate that what started as the Superintendent's plan has become the community's right-sizing plan -- our plan. Replacing the apathetic yawns of the past with the energized outcries of the right-sizing forums is a huge step along the difficult path to rebuilding. And so we must continue to progress through a painful process. Because our plan is not perfect, the board must work collaboratively with the Superintendent after our plan is approved to create a policy framework for the implementation of our plan. These policies will hold the Superintendent accountable for ensuring that significant issues do not become significant missteps. While there is much about our plan I don't like, I join my neighbors in disliking even more the notion of standing in the way of educational achievement for all scholars. Without our plan, the KCMSD will continue its current pattern of unequally distributed opportunity suggesting that it is appropriate for some scholars to receive all that they deserve while others are largely ignored. No longer can some parts of our district serve as educational deserts while others bask in rich valleys of educational prosperity. If we abandon our plan, we abandon hope for transformation. That is a road I will not travel; I won't do that to our scholars whom I have come to know and admire. So I believe. - I believe our Superintendent and our plan will pave the way for the next leg of our shared journey towards educational achievement for all scholars. - I believe together we can listen to and support our scholars, families and teachers as they change buildings while growing educational achievement district-wide. - I believe together we can close cherished buildings and migrate programs while still retaining our commitment to collective action in our district. - I believe together we can make heartbreaking decisions and still not break our unifying spirit -- there remains something inside so strong. If you believe as I believe, tonight join us at 1211 McGee at 6:30pm to stand united for our scholars. And tomorrow, continue to be part of the transformation of our district by remaining involved, choosing to BE 1! (www.be1kc.org), voting in the April 6th election (www.kcu4ea.org) and doing all we can to create a district that provides educational achievement for ALL scholars. Labels: KCMSD, Transformation
KCMSD Board Passes Comprehensive Policy Governance Reform
The short of it: - board members will not attend administrative (epegs) meetings (update BCE)
- all standing board committees will be removed (update BCE, repeal BCE-R1 & BCE-R2)
- we will work to set a governance calendar with Covington (update BDA)
- there will be an agenda/review meeting on the 2nd Wednesday (update BDA)
- there will be a governance/policy meeting on the 3rd Wednesday (update BDA)
- a vote of the board will be required to cancel the governance/policy meeting (update BDA)
- there will be a legislative/business meeting on the 4th Wednesday (update BDA)
- the Superintendent's spending authority will be raised from $25k to $50k (update DJDB)
The shorter of it: we have handed the management powers of the district to the Superintendent and have created a stronger governance process for ourselves. Our scholars are the beneficiaries of both. Labels: KCMSD, Transformation
Transforming KCMSD Leadership
The Kansas City, Missouri School District (KCMSD) is on a journey of transformation. As a school board united, we reached a major milestone for our scholars: the unanimous hiring of an excellent Superintendent in Dr. John Covington. The next success markers on KCMSD's path are professional and stable leadership. During decades of having stifled power under desegregation, the school board devolved into a mire of inappropriate practices that Michael Casserly of the Council of Great City Schools referred to as "micromanaging." These practices have included as many as 14 board-related meetings per month, a managerial committee structure, a neutered spending cap of $25k that results in board items being re-approved two or three times and Superintendents that have an average lifespan of less than two years. Under "business as usual", Dr. Covington will not succeed and we will fail our scholars. On our new path, we are professionalizing KCMSD's leadership team -- the Superintendent managing and the school board governing -- by abandoning "business as usual." We are restoring the authority of the Superintendent and implementing a governance model where the school board governs through policy and the Superintendent is held accountable for delivering results. We are stabilizing KCMSD's leadership team by entering into a long-term Superintendent contract. We are aligning Dr. Covington's evaluation/incentives with our mission/vision and we will host regular public meetings to demonstrate the urgency and unity of KCMSD's convictions. While Dr. Covington is extremely competent, he cannot be expected to work miracles or to be successful in isolation. Our scholars deserve the professional and stable leadership team that top-performing schools require. This will only occur as we, the school board, move to relinquish our managerial controls over the district and instead pursue policy-governance along with community & corporate engagement. The first steps have been taken. Labels: KCMSD, Transformation, What's Working
Cultural Transformation (part 6 of 6): What's Next
Transforming the KCMSD into a district that works to provide educational achievement for all scholars isn't a fantasy that well wishing and positive thinking will make appear. But it is a reality that we have the collective power to create. To unleash that potency, we must first be aware of the current results and acknowledge our role in their creation: 1 in 4 KCMSD scholars is literate and numerate at grade level and we are responsible for having created that. Only when we fully own where we are (the current conversation & current results) can we then create where we want to be (the new conversation & new results).
As we accept responsibility for our district, the new conversation grows. Our scholar engagement, community engagement, faculty & administration, and governance cultures transform -- and along with them, new possibilities for each of our scholars emerge. Across the district, classroom by classroom, neighborhood meeting by neighborhood meeting, board meeting by board meeting, we hear the new conversation's urgent whisperings. As it grows louder, we see clearly "what's working", "what's not working/what's next" and hear the cultural transformation inherent in each.
You now have a choice: contribute to the dominant conversation by doing what you're already doing and, in so doing, ensure that we continue to create more of what we already have. Or commit to the creation of the new conversation -- the only path that leads to the transformation of our schools, our community and our region.
Labels: KCMSD, Transformation
Cultural Transformation (part 5 of 6): Governance
Finally, in the meetings and discussions of the school board, there are two competing conversations: "I am not to blame for what is not working in the district" and "We are fully responsible for everything that is working and not working in our district." One of these conversations inspires a sense of accountability for each and every one of our scholars and the other does not. One works to create a culture that is scholar-centered, achievement-focused, research-based and accountability-empowered and the other does not. These conversations reveal themselves in both the speaking and the actions of school board members. If we want something other than what we have now, we must begin to transform both.
One question, when explored without offering justifications or becoming defensive, that can begin to transform the conversation: to what extent do I see myself as the cause of the problem I'm committed to fixing? And after that: what promises am I willing to make to my peers? These questions, when pursued with the affirmation of their intent rather than the condemnation with which they can be interpreted, empower us to create the transformation we seek. Labels: KCMSD, Transformation
Cultural Transformation (part 4 of 6): Faculty & Administration
Within the faculty and administration discussions concerning the school district, there are two competing conversations: "I will teach those students that want to learn" and "We are responsible for the educational achievement of all of our scholars." One of these conversations generates a culture where anything is possible for our scholars and the other does not. One works to create a culture that is scholar-centered, achievement-focused, research-based and accountability-empowered and the other does not. These conversations reveal themselves in both the speaking and the actions of our faculty and administration. If we want something other than what we have now, we must begin to transform both.
One question, when explored without offering justifications or becoming defensive, that can begin to transform the conversation: how do I benefit from the KCMSD being the way it is now? And after that: what assumptions would I have to let go to create the learning environment my scholars need? These questions, when pursued as an access to opportunity rather than as an indictment of the past, create new openings for action and inspire us towards the transformation we seek. Labels: KCMSD, Transformation
Cultural Transformation (part 3 of 6): Community Engagement
Embedded in the community conversation about our school district, you can hear two competing conversations: "I see no hope for that district" and "We believe in what is possible for our district's scholars and we will act on that belief." One of these conversations leads to a culture of excellence for our scholars and one does not. One works to create a culture that is scholar-centered, achievement-focused, research-based and accountability-empowered and the other does not. These conversations reveal themselves in both the speaking and the actions of our community -- at work, at church, in our neighborhoods and in our homes. If we want something other than what we have now, we must begin to transform both.
One question, when explored without offering justifications or becoming defensive, can begin to transform the conversation: how have I contributed to us having the KCMSD we have now? And after that: what gifts do I have that I have not been using to support the scholars of the KCMSD? These questions, when seen through the spirit of restoration with which they're shared (rather than a spirit of retribution), empower us to assume ownership of our school district rather than endure the experience of being a victim of it.
One movement that seeks to inspire these very questions is rapidly gaining speed: BE 1!Labels: KCMSD, Transformation
Cultural Transformation (part 2 of 6): Scholar Engagement
National research describing what is required to bridge significant gaps that exist between subgroups of scholars point to similar conclusion with a key one being this: scholar engagement. Without a highly motivated learner, the entire process of education begins to breakdown. Our entire system of education must be transformed such that the lust for education inherent in all children is nurtured and encouraged. Scholars must tap into their motivation to engage and own their educational experience -- and as the adults in the system, we must reorganize our system of education to accommodate this need. The need for scholars to be highly engaged, highly motivated learners underscores the first of four cultural transformations necessary to turnaround our district. The culture of scholar engagement must transform from "I am not responsible for what happens in this building" to "We are engaged in this school and it is engaged in us." One group that has taken ownership of this transformation is the recently formed KCMSD Student Government. Honor their ownership in this way: when they call you, answer the call. We must always remember that whatever cultural norms our scholars have, they inherited from us. They are not the cause of what's not working in this district. We are. So whether or not our scholars create this cultural vision as their guide, all adults that live, work, worship or play within the boundaries of the KCMSD must create cultural transformations of our own. Labels: KCMSD, Transformation
Cultural Transformation (part 1 of 6): The Conversation
Listening to our scholars, our teachers, administrators, parents, union members, neighborhood leaders, community residents, businesswomen and men, civic leaders, titans of industry and more, you can hear the same thing: the precursors to wholesale cultural transformation. The cultural norms surrounding this district must be transformed to provide educational achievement for all scholars. That transformation is coming in four key sectors: scholar engagement, community engagement, faculty & administration, and governance. When the conversations guiding these four areas are transformed, we will be a district and a community that consistently provides our scholars with all that they deserve. As our school district returns to workability, so too will our local and regional economy. The fates of our communities and our entire region are inextricably interwoven with the fate of the Kansas City Missouri School District. We can choose to restore both.
To understand the culture of an institution, you need to listen to the conversations that describe it. As we transform the conversations, the behaviors and actions of the people within the district will be transformed as well. Over the next four posts, I'll share the conversations that can be heard surrounding scholar engagement, community engagement (our families, neighborhoods and civic leaders), administration & faculty (our curricular and instructional leaders) and governance (our elected board of education leaders that serve as the connectors between community engagement and faculty & administration). In the final post, I'll begin to discuss what's next for us as a community if our choice is to create a school district that works for all scholars. Labels: KCMSD, Transformation
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