By Kathy Wiggins
February 13, 2012

Seventeen mayors, including Conference of Mayors President Los Angeles Mayor Antonio R. Villaraigosa and Vice President Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter, travelled to Seattle for a “Mayors in Education” meeting held February 2 to discuss the crucial role mayors can play in turning around city schools that are not meeting the needs of students. Sponsored by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the meeting also served as an opportunity for mayors to hear about resources or initiatives at the Foundation that would benefit their cities in attempting to dramatically improve college-ready graduation rates nationally.

Centered around the spectrum of mayoral involvement in education as outlined in the new Conference of Mayors publication Mayoral Leadership and Involvement in Education: An Action Guide for Success, the meeting focused on the mayors’ engagement in their school districts. “At the end of the day, mayors know that when schools fail, cities pay the price in terms of the economy, public safety and quality of life – it is not possible to have a great city without great schools,” said Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson, Chair of the Conference of Mayors Education Reform Task Force and host of the meeting. “Mayors are the key actors in formulating policies and programs that have a direct impact on children’s lives and have a unique ability to foster collaboration between school, health and social services. With the breadth of possibilities for mayoral involvement, one pivotal question for mayors to ask themselves is: What role should I have as the chief elected leader of my city to ensure that every child has an opportunity to have a quality educational experience?”

“Across the country, mayors are being challenged with shrinking budgets, public safety concerns, record unemployment rates, and countless other pressing issues. Yet, we would agree that education is the central platform underlying most of the issues currently facing cities,” said Allan Golston, President of the Gates Foundation United States Program, keynote speaker for the session. “Mayors can and should serve as thought partners to one another in facing these challenges.”

Following their discussion of mayoral spectrum of involvement in education, and a presentation by Gates Foundation staff sharing what they learned is working in education – e.g. Multidisciplinary Education Teams (MET), Next Generation School, and other projects – the mayors broke out into individual working sessions on: 1) Engaging

Community to Attract Funds and Support Schools; 2) District-Charter Collaboration and Equity; 3) Connecting pre-K, K-12 and Higher Education; and 4) Next Generation Classroom Technology.

The final discussion centered on education policy to be brought before the 80th Annual Conference of Mayors in June. Johnson outlined plans to develop policy resolutions in support of teacher effectiveness measures, charter compacts and the parent trigger for review, discussion and consideration at the Jobs, Education and the Workforce Standing Committee meeting in Orlando, followed by review, consideration and hopefully passage by the entire Conference of Mayors membership.