Mayors Hold National Education Summit on Recreating American High Schools
By Fritz Edelstein and Danielle LeSure
October 3, 2005
The United States Conference of Mayors held its third Mayors’ National Education Summit September 22 in Long Beach (CA). Mayors from across the country attended the Summit, which focused on recreating the American high school. The meeting was hosted and chaired by Conference President Long Beach Mayor Beverly O’Neill and co-chaired by St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay, chair of the Conference of Mayors Jobs, Education and Workforce Committee. The Summit was made possible with a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. This grant enables the Conference to hold additional summits in 2006 and 2007.
O’Neill opened the meeting by stating, “Mayors look at education through a different set of lens than in the past. All of us understand that education is a critical element in a city’s economic and workforce development…. Mayors do have a role in education and must be engaged if our cities are to be viable, vibrant and competitive in the 21st century.”
The conversation during the Summit was energized by thought provoking presentations. Each speaker encouraged the mayors to be proactive leaders in high school reform and emphasized the critical role mayors have in making change happen.
James Shelton, Education Program Director at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, set the tone of the Summit by stating five problems that seem to prevent change. These are:
Some people don’t want to face the brutal facts
Some people don’t understand the implications of the facts
Some people don’t have faith that we can prevail until the end
Some people lack the courage to make necessary changes
Some people don’t know where to start
Each problem was followed by examples about education and what we know and can do. Shelton stated, “There is no magic in making the change in high schools possible as long as we have rigor in instruction, relevance in the curriculum and relationships in schools where the adults care about the students.” Recognizing his audience, Shelton went on to say, “Some people lack the courage because they don’t understand the problem. Once the problem is understood, one needs to be bold because there is no easy way about solving it. One needs to get the facts, ask the right questions and start at the beginning. Mayors are the type of individual who takes this approach.” He further challenged the mayors to ask the tough questions of local school officials such as:
How many 9th graders walk across the stage four years later?
Where are the other students who are not crossing the stage?
How hard is it for a student to get back into the system if they have dropped out or been sent to a juvenile center?
The first mayor to speak after the presentation was Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley. He set the stage by suggesting that, “Mayors organize people around the problem, which can affect the elected school board. It is vital to tell the truth and get the facts out on the table to gain community involvement.” Louisville Mayor Jerry Abramson stated, “We understand the political game better than anyone else. We are the ones who stand up and take on the system to the next level. Mayors understand how to win elections and join with businesses and other parts of the community to make change a reality.”
San Jose Mayor Ron Gonzales, in support of Shelton’s remarks, commented, “Mayors need to keep in mind that it is okay to ask the tough questions, but when you do the education community will expect you to give them tough solutions leading to the increase in responsibility and involvement.”
Trenton Mayor Douglas Palmer went even further by saying, “It takes the political courage and will of the mayor to make these education changes happen. In essence we are confronted with an Educational Katrina and what mayors need to do is put out the facts about the gravity of the problem to the whole community. Then lay out a vision with the schools and plan as a community on how we are going solve the problems of redesigning our high schools for the 21st century.”
The next presentation by Executive Director of the Annenberg Institute for School Reform Warren Simmons defined what is included when redesigning a high school. He opened by stating sources of concern about high schools as they are currently functioning. He then went on to describe some characteristics of redesigned high schools including small class size, extended learning opportunities for all students, and support for English language learners and students with disabilities.
Simmons concluded his presentation by describing some of the dysfunctional areas within school districts, which made the case that just changing the governance, leadership and local control is not enough. One needs to have partnerships and interfaces with multiple agencies and organizations if one is to be successful in improving the quality of education in a city. This last conclusion begs for a new role for mayors in providing or connecting services to education. Some of the dysfunctional systems named were human resources, fiscal management, student enrollment and assignment, facilities design and maintenance, and communication and public engagement, all of which could be performed by existing city offices under the mayor’s leadership.
This presentation also evoked interesting reactions by the mayors. Abramson asked, “How can mayors create systems that produce long term results after leaving office?” Simmons stated the need for mayors to develop organized community dialogues and to find models that fit their city district, and promote change. Another interesting comment in reaction to some of the discussion on the Simmons presentation was by Slay when he stated, “It is not about the dollars but how you spend them.”
The next speaker was California Secretary of Education Alan Bersin. He strongly advocated and encouraged increased mayoral leadership and involvement in education. Daley posed another interesting question: “Why now does everyone want to put education on the mayor’s plate?” He then answered, “Mayors force the conversation.” But the question is really asking several things, all of which should be of interest and cause pause for mayors as they become more engaged in education, including high school reform.
Throughout the day, participating mayors actively raised questions, reacted to ideas, proposed strategies, discussed education issues and emphasized the unique role mayors have in recreating their high schools to meet students’ needs and interests. By the end of the Summit, it was clear that mayors have an important leadership role in improving education, and a greater role than in the past.
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