By Fritz Edelstein
February 6, 2006

During the 74th Winter Meeting, the Conference of Mayors released a new publication entitled Mayoral Leadership and Involvement in Education: An Action Guide for Success. The Action Guide was made possible by a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

With the increasing role of mayors in public education, the Conference developed a guide to assist mayors as they choose how to get involved and at what level of engagement. The Action Guide provides principles, suggestions and ideas for mayoral leadership and involvement. It also explains the political, financial and bureaucratic problems with which mayors are confronted when they become involved in public education. With the release of the guide, mayors now have a resource from which to draw ideas, make decisions on type and level of involvement, and understand what other mayors have done.

Conference President Long Beach Mayor Beverly O’Neill succinctly stated what she sees as a key role in mayoral leadership and involvement in education, “If there are issues in education, the mayor is the only person who can typically bring all the stakeholders together to identify solutions. This is the most important role a mayor can play regarding education.”

Four central themes on mayoral leadership and involvement in education are emphasized: advocacy, capacity, implementation and sustainability. The guide provides useful information to mayors no matter what role they currently have or are considering in education.

It will help mayors answer two pivotal questions:

• What role should I have as the chief elected official of my city to ensure that every child has the opportunity to have a quality education experience? and

• What can I do to align my city’s services and resources to provide that opportunity?

Throughout the guide, specific examples of what mayors have done are provided, and mayors speak out “in their own words” about the reasons for getting involved, problems faced, strategies and the mayor’s role in the education arena.

St. Louis Mayor Francis G. Slay, Chair of the Conference’s Job, Education and Workforce Committee named five reasons why he, as mayor, decided to become involved in improving the city’s public education system, “I got involved for the kids, a more productive workforce, stronger neighborhoods, crime reduction, and to replicate good schools and programs.”

Copies of the Action Guide are available at the Conference of Mayors and on the website at www.usmayors.org.