By Kathy Amoroso
July 14, 2008

Over 15 mayors attended a panel discussion June 22 on how to address issues relating to the high school dropout crisis. Moderated by Miami Mayor Manny Diaz, panelists Superintendent Rudolph Crew (Miami Dade School District), Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper and Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin spoke on the importance of building collaborations within their cities to create programs for youth that encourage both academic achievement and aspirations to pursue higher education.

Diaz and other panelists began the discussion by exploring how their partnership functions across each others‘ borders. Additionally, it focuses on intervention-based solutions such as Truancy Court. Here, at-risk students are identified and recommendations are made, such as the need to be enrolled in an alternative education program or to receive additional tutoring or school counseling. Crew described his school district’s relationship to the city by stating, "This partnership with the city of Miami reflects the most important key to uplifting schools — success is in direct proportion to how many people across the city invest in the school system outside of the district."

Hickenlooper’s efforts to address high school reform also emphasize the need for partnerships between the school district and the city. He explained how together, they created a joint business plan to increase parent and family engagement, strengthen neighborhoods by including schools as part of revitalization, and increase student engagement and skill development. In addition to partnerships, Hickenlooper also spoke on the importance of using the mayor’s bully pulpit to increase awareness of issues in education and to encourage support from business and non-profit sectors. Hickenlooper stated, "By getting a process in place and getting the community together, if you really allow them to create it, they have a sense of owning it." This was demonstrated in the creation of the Denver Scholarship Foundation. Here the mayor’s office, school district, and business community collaborated to create access to higher education for all Denver Public School graduates through endowment efforts.

Like Hickenlooper, Franklin also sought partnerships with the business community to build programming. The mayor used the Workforce Investment Act to launch a mentoring program where Franklin meets directly with high school seniors to provide guidance on pursuing higher education. The unique collaboration between the city and its business leadership also includes certification training in areas such as nursing, pharmacy, and patient care for high school seniors interested in going straight into the workforce. Franklin also spoke on how she and her staff collaborated with Lincoln University in Pennsylvania to help redirect 16 students formerly on their way to jail towards college. She stated, "To this day, the mother of one of these students thanks me. She sent me a letter stating that now he is a student leader of his class . . . this demonstrates the important role a mayor’s office can have in the lives of students . . . by getting directly involved in education."