Now Is The Time For All Good Leaders To Come To The Aid Of Their Community

The Rochester Area Black Political Caucus held a “State of African Americans in Rochester” conference on Saturday. Noted elected leaders from Rochester held six workshops, Community Health, Criminal Justice, Education, Housing, Jobs & Economic Development, and Role of the Black Church Today in order to gain insight into the Black community’s perspective.

Citing information from ACT Rochester, workshops were asked to brainstorm lists of the strengths, weaknesses, threats, and opportunities that we face in the African American community of Rochester.

In attending the Education workshops, both the morning and afternoon sessions worked within the same format however, the makeup and process of the groups was very different. The makeup of the morning group consisted of younger more outspoken individuals while the afternoon group was more seasoned and to the point. In so far as the process, the morning group generated fewer concepts with more rational offered for their input, the afternoon session provided a plethora of bullet points for each topic with little comment.

Two important strengths that were listed in the morning and afternoon sessions were committed community activists and engagement of the Black community. Both groups made it clear that we, the community, were speaking, but were not being heard.

After both the morning and afternoon sessions, the queries were the same. We have been dealing with these same weaknesses and threats in education in Rochester for generations, when will our elected officials, some of whom have been seated for generations, begin to utilize our strengths to capitalize on the opportunities that exist within our community to overcome our weaknesses and eliminate the threats that our children face in the system of education?

It is important for the community to come together and discuss the problems shared within the community. It is more important to generate action items aimed at solving the problems we have endured for so long.

Our children do not have the luxury of time. Our political leaders must begin to create change now. Our children deserve a successful educational future.

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Off To A Good Start

While it may seem that there is a great deal of opposition to the appointment of Bolgen Vargas as our new superintendent, it must be made clear that the major objection was to the process not the outcome.

Rochester has always been a “give him a chance” community. And, now that Dr. Vargas has been given the position, it is up to him to prove he deserves our support.

Recently Superintendent Vargas met with former Interim Superintendent William Cala to discuss plans to continue moving forward with Dr. Cala’s Regional Academy school concept. Regional Academy “was conceived on the basis of research supporting the de-concentration of poverty in urban centers as a keystone issue.”

The plan was developed while Dr. Cala was our interim but was not supported by the Brizard administration and was put on hold. Four years later, Dr. Cala seems hopeful that the Regional Academy will become a reality. Dr. Cala wrote, “What makes this meeting different, is that for the first time (in my opinion) there seems to be an inch of progress with RCSD.”

The Regional Academy by no means solves the systemic and endemic problems we face in our district however it is, by far, a more positive step forward for the district than the post failure programs that are currently at the forefront of its plan of success.

Since Dr. Vargas is able to see the validity of this type of program, it is quite possible that this community might see a stronger concentration of effort on early childhood education that would include lowering class size at the elementary level, expeditionary learning for all of Rochester’s children, and a greater emphasis on the child as a citizen not a standardized test score.

The biggest difference between public school and private or charter school is structure and discipline. Let’s hope that Dr. Vargas has the ability to bring both to his cabinet, Central Office, and ultimately to his schools.

The focus is our children. The hope is for success. The plan is to support that success.

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Oh The Programs We Fund

Each year the Board of Education enters into budget deliberations where they ask questions about the reasons behind the funding streams within the budget. In highly controversial years the community rises up and causes the Board to direct the superintendent to rethink the budget and find the money to satisfy their concerns. Everyone returns home, happy in the belief that they saved education.

Meanwhile, our children are still mis-educated and failing to meet even the most basic measures of educational success. And, for those 51% who are having difficulty within the system, there are programs in place to help them.

Agency Youth has an 85% attendance rate when the district’s goal is above 90%. While the program boasts that 84% of its students are “successfully re-entering regular school” there is no accountability for how many of those students return to the program, drop out, or are placed in other post failure programs.

The Career & Technical Education graduates 58% of its participating students.

Commencement Summer School had 4,000 attendees where the percent of students passing the course, 85%, is higher than the percent of students completing the course, 83%.

Of the 630 4 year cohort participants of the Hillside Work Scholarship Connection, only 210 received scholarships.

The I’m Ready Program’s attendance rate was 68% with only 55% of its students moving up to the next grade. This program costs the district $3,500 per student. Both Commissioner White and Superintendent Vargas have confirmed that this program and NorthSTAR are miserable failures.

NorthSTAR returned only 55% of its students to high school and that program costs $11,409 per student.

Young Mothers, with 137 students, only graduated 9 students at a cost of $11,622 per student. Once again, Commissioner White, Chair of the Excellence in Student Achievement Committee has said that the current structure of this program is a failure.

There is little to no accountability for success for any of these programs and so it seems we need yet another program for our failed population of students, All City High.

Each year our Board of Education wastes millions of dollars funding failed post-failure programs while ignoring the needs of our children at the elementary level.

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To Be Or Not To Be Superintendent

*A correction must be made to “Engaging Parents”, classes have not begun and any interested parents may contact Willie J. Robinson, Jr., Office of Parent Engagement, (585) 262-8362 or email, willie.robinson@rcsdk12.org

If there was any doubt concerning the validity of the superintendent search process it should be abundantly clear to everyone that the process was nothing more than a ruse to placate the community.

Once again this community has allowed the “powers that be” to shove their decisions down our throats with the hope that it will be better next time. Meanwhile our children suffer the “slings and arrows of outrageous misfortune” at the hands of political pirates who would sell our children’s futures to insure theirs.

This is not about Bolgen Vargas, this is about the incalculable lies that have been told throughout the superintendent search process that ended with the appointment of Bolgen Vargas. This is about the countless number man-hours invested by this community in a process that we hoped would value our commitment. This is about spending $40,000 dollars in educational dollars to produce a superintendent that we already had. This is about a Board of Education that does not possess the strength and integrity necessary to be the voice of the people while having the arrogance to blatantly state that what the community wants doesn’t matter.

At the risk of sounding redundant, not their problem. And, if we have a problem with it the question is, “Will we take arms against this sea of troubles, and by opposing end them or will we grunt and sweat under a weary life letting conscience make cowards of us all?”

We are being bullied while telling our children they should stand up to bullies. We tell our children to reach out and help those who are attacked while we won’t help each other in the fight for better education. We are teaching our children that bullying doesn’t stop when you become an adult, you just ignore it and hope for the best.

Our children will fail if we give them no reason to succeed.

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Gathering Steam In The Movement

Last night the NAACP held a public hearing regarding the Rochester City School District’s superintendent search process. Representative groups in attendance were Rochester Parents United, Community Education Task Force, The Nation of Islam, and the Green Party. Though they could not attend, MAAFA contacted the president of Rochester Parent’s United, Ernest Flagler-Mitchell to lend their support.

In his opening statements NAACP President Ed Goolsby said that the meeting was called due to the number of calls and complaints the NAACP has received concerning the search process and the results that were realized from that process. Goolsby made it clear that last night’s meeting was a fact finding mission to determine the specific objections of parents and community members. Once determined, those objections will be taken to the Board of Education to be addressed.

President Goolsby was asked several times by parents and community members, “What makes this meeting different?” Goolsby then offered the support of the local and state chapter of the NAACP to any next step actions. He made it clear that if the Board did not satisfy parent and community concerns about the process, there would be definite repercussions from both chapters.

While invited, not present was City of Rochester Mayor Tom Richards. Goolsby made a point of saying that the improper education provided by the Rochester City School District is absolutely the concern of the Mayor of Rochester simply because those who are not educated commit crimes and those crimes reflect on the city. President Goolsby challenged Mayor Richards to do his due diligence by confronting the ineptitude of the Board of Education and stand with the community in protest of the failing system of education in the city of Rochester.

Though the meeting was well received, parent and community members made it clear that they were tired of talking and wanted action.

It is unfortunate that in a democratic society, where the people are the government, those elected, by the people, are willing to disrespect, disregard, and dismiss, the voice of the people.

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Engaging Parents

The Rochester City School District is supporting and funding an initiative called the Parent Leadership Training Institute. This Connecticut based program has been providing parent leadership courses for twenty years.

Their Mission Statement:
The Parent Leadership Training Institute (PLTI) helps parents become leading advocates for children. It is designed by the American Leadership Forum, Leadership Greater Hartford, and the Connecticut Commission on Children.

Their Goals:
Help parents become the leaders they would like to be for children and families;
Expand the capacity of parents as change agents for children and families;
Develop communities of parents within regions of the state that will support one another in skills development and successful parent action for children;
Facilitate systems change for parental involvement with increased utilization of parents in policy and process decisions; and
Increase parent-child interactions and improve child outcomes through parent involvement.

As reported in the Penfield Post, “Greater Rochester PLTI has $60,000 in funding in place to offer two 20-week classes in the coming year . . . Among the funders are the Rochester Area Community Foundation, the Brighter Days Foundation, the Marie C. and Joseph C. Wilson Foundation, the City of Rochester, the Rochester City School District, and individual donors. The first class this fall will involve parents from the city of Rochester and the “inner ring” suburbs of Greece, Gates-Chili, Irondequoit and Brighton and their school districts.”

PTLA was offered through the Office of Parent Engagement as part of the Parent University program. The bi-weekly two hour programs began in February and will culminate with a graduation celebration in June.

These are the types of positive programs the RCSD must promote in order to effect increased parental involvement in the educational issues that directly affect our children. Educating parents is key in producing effective outcomes of positive parent and community input into the system of education.

Kudos to the Office of Parent Engagement for reaching out to educate parents and in bringing together the Greater Rochester community in an effort to help successfully educate our children.

By any means necessary.

* A public hearing concerning the superintendent selection process will be held on April 23, 2012 at The Temple of God Church on 195 Congress Ave at 6pm conducted by the NAACP.

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The Conclusion

Question 14: If there is a conflict between different community groups in the district over a particular issue, how would you resolve it? Please site specific examples that you’ve used in the past.

Spencer: One, we have to make sure that we listen. One, we have to make sure that we’re collaborating, we have to make sure we’re having a transparent conversation. To give you a situation, we had to combine two schools . . . in combining those two schools we had to really begin to bring the groups to the table and really lay on the table as a product of conversation, what are the resources that we carry with the two schools separated, what will the resources be when we begin to combine the two schools, how can we support the kids at these two schools . . . In talking with those community groups and having a conversation with those community groups, we began to get an understanding of why they did not want these schools to combine . . . Once we begin to lay out what the issue are then we can begin to have a conversation as to a resolution or a solution to those particular issues . . . I think the important piece is to make sure that we listen, the important piece is to ask questions, the important piece is to make sure that we’re collaborative in the process, we’re honest in the process, we’re transparent about the process . . . When we left that table, we were all on the same page with making sure that kids were getting the best . . . Once we finished and combined those schools and finished the conversation and really pulled those schools together, we continued the conversation with the parents, we invited the parents to come to the school . . . to see what experiences you kids will actually have at this particular location . . .

Vargas: Dealing with conflict, don’t personalize, deal with the issue, deal with the facts, be evidence based driven, not necessarily around personalities . . .

Question 15: As superintendent, what will be your role in the budgetary process? Please specify.

Spencer: One, as superintendent, is really beginning to look at the strategic direction and making sure that our budget is aligned with the strategic direction of the district. Two, I think it’s definitely important that we safeguard the classroom at all cost . . . making sure that we are not taking resources from the classroom. In addition to that . . . whenever possible, making sure that we’re protecting people because that’s what’s going to make the district operate . . . Does that mean that no one will be affected, no that does not mean that so don’t be misled in thinking that that means that particular piece. But when we begin to have open and honest conversation about that budget process . . . we make the community a part of the conversation. So when we start talking about allocating resources and allocating monies to support ex, we have to then use what we call our School Based Decision Making Team . . . consist[ing] of parents, it consists of community members, it consists of teachers, the principal is a part of that particular piece, and then also sometimes there are Central Office folks that are a part of that team, and in some cases there are students. But collectively we work together to begin to develop a budget that is going to be cohesive and meet the needs of their schools. And once we do that we then transition into making sure that everyone recognizes what those resources are so we have to share, schools have to share those budgets with their communities and get input from their community. And once we come back to the table from getting the input from the communities then schools are able to move forward with allocating with what they have done with their budgets.

Vargas: My role is very clear, the superintendent has to set the priority for the district along with the Board of Education. My role is to work with the School Board, set the priority around budget issues. And to me, it’s the school, it’s the classroom, it’s the socio-emotional support as well as academic support . . . It’s just like any budget, I will repeat, that part of my work will be to make sure that whatever budget is put forward, that has the reflection of what we say we’re all about. So, one of the roles of the superintendent is to set the priority and allocate resources accordingly.

Question 16: I wish there wasn’t as much fighting in school, what will you do about it?

Spencer: We have to begin to get out into the community . . . When we start looking at a school we have to realize that the school is a reflection of our community. And as we go an address issues in schools, we also have to go into the community and get an understanding of what can we do to support in the community. I’m not saying that we’re going to resolve community issues . . . we need to partner with the community so that we can become a part of the process to resolve the issues in the community. So when we start looking at students who are having difficulty or students who are fighting in the community or in the schools, I think it’s important for us to want to begin to address the social-emotional needs of those particular students. And in addressing the social-emotional needs of those students we can begin to work with those students from a standpoint of the same manner in which we work with our special ed students . . . why is it that we do not have a behavioral plan if we see that there is a consistent issue that’s affecting the student. It’s not to label the student, it is really to identify specific areas where we need to begin to address. So if we’re talking about allocating resources for that particular student, if there is a student that needs to see a Social Worker, then that student needs to see a Social Worker. If there’s a student that needs an additional opportunity to have some relationship building with an adult then the student should have that opportunity. But all of that should be included in that
particular student’s plan.

Vargas: I would like to, for us to have, at a very early age, more conflict resolution . . . Tim Mains’ school is one of the few schools, if not the only school that has conflict resolution in place. That would be part of one of my approaches. As I visited schools throughout this school year, I noticed also a level of tension, and we’re spending so much money around safety, you know we need to teach Civics at a very early age, how to get along. We need to build a school culture where students appreciate each other, the teachers are appreciated, the parents are appreciated, a culture that has dignity. And dignity is about respecting one another. It’s not going to happen because we say, but there are models like conflict resolution, non-violent approaches, teaching kids about those concepts at a very early age is extremely important. I also believe that it is extremely for the community to play a key role in this regard. I do believe that violence that occurs in the community sometimes continued into the school . . . we must, at a very early age and through high school begin to deal with this problem and the most important approach that I know, the most effective . . . is conflict resolution and building a culture that has an appreciation for each child. The adults demonstrate that, the children have to demonstrate that to one another. There is nothing more powerful than school culture . . . you cannot do this work without engaging the students.

Question 17: What if after three years you will be offered a job in another school district, are you going to accept that position, how long have you stayed in jobs in the past?

Spencer: I’m here for the long haul. I’m not in this to come and hit it and miss. When I look at Rochester, I do see a reflection of Baltimore. I see kids who have great potential but kids who also need opportunities. And once we provide them those opportunities I think that they’re going to do great things. If you look at my track record in Baltimore, I stayed in Baltimore for fourteen years of my educational career. From there I went to Houston and I’ve been in Houston for the past two years. I don’t need to have a stepping stone for a position . . . My goal is to make sure that I’m going to be here and I’m going to serve the community for a very long time. My goal is to be the best, the absolute best in America . . . I’m about consistency.

Vargas: My last job was twenty years. I am committed to Rochester and I also will tell you that if you’re looking for a superintendent that could change this district in one, two, three, years, you’re looking at the wrong person. This is hard work, and it’s not the work of one person, it’s the work of all of us . . . I’m here because I also would like to see some results. You will not see the results that I would be proud of in three years . . . My commitment is to Rochester, it is my hope that I could stay here for the long term. Changing the district or changing the school is not easy work, it’s hard work and it takes time, and it takes community, and it is the job of a leader to bring all of us into a team to do that. One other thing that I am excited about Rochester is that I think that there are possibilities, the possibilities here are enormous.

Question 18: What do you consider to be your major strength as an administrator, what have you targeted for yourself personally and professionally as far as improvement goes?

Spencer: . . . I have a dynamic way of working with data . . . I have a very critical eye of looking at data, and when I say data I’m not necessarily talking about numbers because data comes in all shapes and fashions. But when we begin to look at data we should be able to make connections, we should be able to make parallels, we should be able to identify where our various weaknesses are as well as where our areas of strength may be. And then once we identify those particular pieces then we put something in place to address them or we put something in place to improve it. So, using data is definitely an area of strength . . . In addition to that, relationship building is a strength for me . . . Looking at areas where I can improve . . . I am definitely a workaholic . . . I know how to balance but I also know that there’s always more that needs to be done and I’m always striving to do more and more . . . the improvement would be, how do I then come to Rochester, how do I really begin to get to know who you are as a community group, how do I begin to get to know who you are as a district as well as letting you know who I am, how do I begin to develop community advisory groups so that we can have some authentic conversations about how we can move forward as a district . . .

Vargas: My major strength is priority. Every leader has to be clear in his priority, without that you are not going to be successful. I think I have demonstrated that. The other thing is the ability to be able to work collaboratively with multiple contingencies . . . You have to be mission driven . . . what is clear to me is that it’s about impacting the lives of our kids, student achievement in every child, not only to graduate but also to be prepared to be an effective citizen, not just a worker . . . Mission driven, clear priorities is important, and values. A leader without clear values is someone that will be lost or someone that will change their mind according to the weather . . . I would say the area for improvement for me would be . . . that I have not much patience is when it comes to the needs of our students . . . I think that I can do the work well but I can improve. That is the most challenging for a superintendent is balancing all these interests that you have . . . A superintendent, at least this one, doesn’t have all the skill set that are necessary to run a complex organization like this. A superintendent has to have a team, in place, that can provide the knowledge, and information, and skill set that is required to run a complex organization like this . . . The superintendent that believes or the leader who believe they possess all the skill set necessary to run a complex organization like this is one that I believe is misguided and I consider recognizing this is part of my strength.

It is now up to each of us to consider the responses of the candidates and ask the question, “Did this process produce an individual I want to lead our district or should we revisit the process and search for someone more suited to the qualities we, as a community, want as superintendent?”

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Questions 10 Through 13

Question 10: How can we link para educators, teachers, tutors, and mentors roles to increase graduation rates in city schools?

Spencer: Student success is everyone’s business and when we talk about school districts we have to make sure everyone in that district . . . we’re all held accountable for that particular piece. So when we start looking at paraeducator’s and teacher’s roles we need to start from the very beginning . . . what we need to do is starting to look at our rigor . . . When students come to us in pre-kindergarten, are we using our aids as a support within a classroom or are we using them in another manner throughout the school building? Are we making sure that teachers are provided with adequate professional development so that those teachers understand how to work with students who are coming to school with deficiencies? And, how do we begin to address those deficiencies? . . . Looking at the 45 minute block for intervention, that is so very critical to make sure that we intervene early, to make sure that kids are caught up on deficits. And when we intervene early, what we’re showing is we cannot only grow that kid one academic year’s growth . . . research shows us that we can catch that kid up two years within that ten month time period. And if we continue to do that there would be no reason why we would have any kid that is not performing at or above grade level. But we have to make sure that everyone is adequately trained, we have to make sure that our teachers and teacher’s aids are actually utilizing the time that they have effectively and responsibly, we have to make sure that principals understand how to work with teachers and have conversations with teachers about what does the data tell us this particular student needs. What is it that we need to do as far as participating in professional learning communities with teachers to really begin to have an authentic conversation about moving a child’s education program forward and collectively we’ll get the job done.

Vargas: Improving graduation rates . . . is the work of all of us, no one person alone can improve the graduation rate . . . it will take all the contingencies, the internal and the external. In school we do have incredible resources, the person who transports the child in the morning has a role to play, the paraprofessional, everyone and by the way, it’s part of my philosophy that every work needs to be dignified. And part of dignifying your work is to recognize the contribution that each individual in the system makes to the educational success of each child.

Question 11: During the first year, how might you go about determining the strengths and weaknesses of the school district and what specific steps would you take once you do?

Spencer: Determining the strengths and weaknesses of the district, I think, requires a lot of listening . . . and a lot of asking questions. I’m very critical at asking questions . . . I think its important to get an aspect of that information from all constituents and make sure that everyone has an opportunity to be heard. But once we begin to identify what the weaknesses are, how we address those particular weaknesses . . . I think its important also to do a needs assessment . . . at the district level to really begin to pinpoint a deficiency for where our weaknesses are. Once we begin to highlight where those are I think its more important to begin to put in place some mechanisms for some development and some training to improve upon those particular areas of weaknesses, put in place some support mechanisms so that we can improve upon those particular areas . . . We have to make sure we have plans, and we have goals, and we have milestones. That’s the only way we will be able to measure if we’re actually making progress. When we put in place every single individual having a plan, every single individual understanding where they fit, within that particular plan, then we can begin to measure it, then we can begin to identify the progress that is going to be made and which we’ll need to move schools forward.

Vargas: Well, I do think that I’ve been dealing with some of the things that we have been doing. Right now we do have external accountability system. What I’ll begin to do is to create an internal accountability system. Here’s what I mean by external, the school today gets in trouble when the State Education department tells us we’re in trouble. That should not happen. We should know before the State Ed department knows. That’s what I mean by internal accountability system. From the principal, to the teacher, to the paraprofessional, the family, and yes, Central Office. If Central Office has a role, it’s to be accountable and enforce an internal accountability system that holds people [accountable] and supports people because you can’t just talk about accountability in the absence of supporting the people that are doing the front line work. So, I do think that I will begin by assessing the internal accountability system.

Question 12: Do you believe in bi-lingual education for our emergent bi-lingual population? Please explain your position and give at least one example from the practical perspective.

Spencer: . . . I absolutely believe in bi-lingual education. Every school that I worked with [in Houston] has a bi-lingual program . . . We have to 1. make sure that students are understanding the concepts 1. from their native language . . . I think its good to take a dual language approach with the Spanish crowd . . . our goal there becomes, how do we get the kids to hear, listen, speak, read, and write more English? How do we build that into their instructional program? . . . In addition to that we have situations where some kids are not Spanish speakers, they’re not native Spanish speakers and they’re also not native English speakers so what do we begin to do. That requires us to put in place some strategies. So we [in Houston] really work with those groups of students to make sure that we’re building the English proficiency in the students but we’re also not neglecting their native language in the educational process.

Vargas: As I mentioned to you, the education that I receive in New York City was through a bi-lingual education program. I can tell you that the bi-lingual education program is misunderstood throughout this nation. I support high quality bi-lingual education programs. We have a model that I subscribe to it, which is the dual language model. School 12 is an example of that and it’s been effective over the years . . . You have to provide the resources and support . . . bi-lingual education has to be an integral part of the educational [experience], it cannot be seen like a program in isolation . . . it has to be part of the mission of that school to provide an educational experience for the kid that prepares them just like any other kid, for college and career and to be an effective citizen.

Question 13: Rochester is a community with a long history of excellence in the arts and music, how will our Musical and Art departments look under your tenure as superintendent?

Spencer: If you remember when I spoke about initiatives, I said, “building and developing a well rounded student” . . . When we begin to look at the arts, how can we take Art, for example, and blend in History? How can we teach History through Art, how can we teach Mathematics through Music? But, in order for us to do that, we have to come together . . . we have to get Music teachers, and Math teachers to come together and have some dialogue about effective ways in which that can happen. So that it should happen only in isolation only in Art or in Music, it should also happen and transfer over into that child’s classroom. But that’s the way we can begin to look at implementing a variety of things that we can bring to our students as far as the Arts experiences. Another piece that I think it’s important for us to look at is, what are the programs that are out there, free programs that are out there that can support us in that effort and support us in developing our teachers in that effort?

Vargas: The first step that I did last summer was to restore about twelve Music teachers. One of the things that I did . . . I just went through the budget line and [took] $700,000 from our consultant item and transferred that to meet the need for Art and Music teachers. The School of the Arts, elementary schools, many of them benefited from that effort. Wilson High School . . . and Marshall High School was projected to be cut. Through the effort of the Board and the effort that we made we were able to restore that . . . Art and Music shouldn’t be just for some kids, it should be part of the education [inaudible due to applause] My budget, given the challenges that we face . . . we need to continue to build [Art and Music]. The Rochester City School district would not be a great district unless we improve the quality and experience we give our families and our kids on a daily basis and part of that experience include Art and Music in every school, not just at the School of the Arts, in every single school just like you find in any community that prides itself in providing a high quality education for their children.

Only four questions left.

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Questions 7 Through 9

Question 7: Describe your previous experience in dealing with dwindling resources and increased expectations and accountability measures. Please provide specific examples.

Spencer: In looking at the decrease in resources . . . a critical piece for us to do is to begin to look at our partners and the role that our partners are going to play in making sure that we continue to have the resources that are available for our students regardless of the loss of funding. . . That requires us to step into the community again and that requires us to have a conversation with the community again. As principal . . . I partnered with the local universities . . . and I asked the local universities, if you could come to my campus, if you could allow my teachers to enroll in your program . . . for reading, for early childhood, and for instructional technology, and you could have my teachers to have your courses on our campus I guarantee you I can get at least 80% of them to participate . . . in fact we had over 95% of our teachers who participated and the cost of that was $100 dollars per teacher. Those are ways that we can begin to get out there and work with our community and our partners with limited resources and continue to do the work that we need to do and educate children.

Vargas: My first example is my experience as a student in the New York city school district. I went to a school where I know what it is to be in a classroom with 38 students. I know what it is to go school in urban America and text books are not available. I know what it is to go into a school in urban America where the majority of the teachers that are there are not getting the support they need to serve students like me . . . I think my experience on the school board is a testimony to that and most significantly, in this job, which is the most relevant experience that I can point to it as I don’t think that there’s any doubt that I came to a very challenging situation when it came to the situation of the budget last year. They were close to 900 staff layoffs . . . I went into our budget, I examined some of the areas that we can make some adjustments, I made some adjustments, I was able to restore teachers and services to some of our schools . . . When it comes to the budget, the most important thing that we need to . . . keep in mind is that budget is sustaining our priorities and values about the organization . . . and when you look at the budget that is presented to the school board, nothing is perfect. The district has a long way to go when it comes to allocating resources in an effective and efficient way . . . If we are going to put the student first, we must deal with the issue of allocation of resources in an effective way.

Question 8: In these difficult economic times, how will you assure that students in special education areas receive the placements and support they need to meet their educational needs?

Spencer: One piece that I think that’s important for us to start off with is recognizing that special ed students are going to be held to the exact same standard as every other student. As superintendent I absolutely will not tolerate a substandard education for any student . . . When we look at the resources provided to special ed students . . . how do we begin to address those particular needs . . . Going back to my roots as principal, I made sure that one, every single student at the campus, who was a struggling student . . . had at least a 45 minute intervention period every single day so that we can make sure that we can address the issues with those particular students . . . I partnered with an outside organization once again, and with that outside organization I asked them if they could bring in a mental health clinician as well as a counselor to support . . . and they did. What I promised to them was that if they worked with us, and help us to meet the needs of our students that we will make sure that we continue to share with our district and our community that our kids were going to get the resources and services that they need which will then pull more kids back into our school and in fact it did, it increases our enrollment which therefore increased their level of supportive services that they could then provide to the school. [In Houston] we took a look at if we were actually, truly identifying students who are really in need of a special ed service or if we can begin to address those students from the very beginning with an intervention to prevent them from going into special education. Education should be a service not a placement for the child. We need to make sure that every single kid, even within the special ed realm that we’re providing the supports that particular student needs so that we can transition that student out of special education . . .

Vargas: . . . Part of my career experience is that I did work as a youth advocate representing students in CSE and parents . . . As I mentioned to you, at that time the graduation rate was 28% that is very sad to know that we haven’t made much progress . . . It’s an area that we are going to have to pay close attention. Right now we do have in place, a serious effort to make sure that the needs of our special education student is met and also, most significantly, part of the whole notion of the accountability system it called for the special ed population to be part of it and is one of the reasons so many of our schools are getting into some accountability issues with the State Education department. In my view . . . when it comes to the special ed population . . . identifying what their issues are, put the right intervention in place, for example right now, beginning this school year, we put in place a response to intervention program and that is aiding or correcting some of the past practice when it comes to students with special needs. So, as part of my whole philosophy about early intervention and that you cannot longer think that you can meet their needs with the same amount of time. The special ed program can teach us a lot . . . every child gets an IEP . . . another thing that it can teach us is that learning is not something that everybody doesn’t learn the same way. So the RTI and other programs have components that can also benefit the entire system. So my commitment is to continue with those efforts also the allocation of resources and most significantly, monitor progress because if we don’t monitor carefully every year then we end up in the same place . . .

Question 9: How important are the roles of parents and community members in student success? How have you demonstrated parent and community involvement during your career?

Spencer: . . . Looking at parent and community involvement and how we get parents engaged, I think its very critical for us to look at it from a different lens. A lot of times when we look at parent engagement we look at parent engagement from the perspective of, they must come to the school . . . however we have this great thing called technology that allows us to reach out to our parents, we have radio stations that we can reach out to our parents, we have television stations where we can begin to reach out to our parents . . . We need to begin to tap into those parent sources. Once we begin to realize that there are other ways that we can tap into our parents and really getting them there, meeting with our parents and connecting with our parents and seeing what our parents have to bring as a resource to the school and finding alternative ways in which we can bring that resource to the school will be extremely helpful.

Vargas: As a counselor I know that first hand, you need parents involved in a child’s education. Now, it doesn’t have to be the definition of parents, it’s changing, for example, my own research shows that over 20% of the student population are not living with their biological parents . . . often it a grandma or a gramdpa, often it might be foster care, often it might be an uncle or extended family, so when we talk about parental engagement, then we’ve got to understand the complexities and one of the things that is defining what parental engagement means. . . There are different levels for example there are parents that could be more involved . . . but you need to recognize the complexities of the population . . . What I am committed to do is to build the capacity and recognize that there’s a challenge . . . I would love, when we have parent/teacher conferences, to provide free transportation for families . . . I can tell you that I am encouraged in the area because also the Title I funding . . . is aiming for parental engagement . . . One of the things that we are doing right now is examining the Title I funding and see how we can allocate resources with that effort but also measure results around parental engagement.

Superintendents Q & A – Part II

Question 4: What will you do to insure the new teacher evaluation is fair for students, tax payers, and teachers?

Spencer: We need to make sure that our evaluation systems are fair, we need to make sure that they are all inclusive, we need to make sure that within the evaluation system it speaks to the support that’s going to be provided to the teacher. So when you look at evaluation systems and it talks about how principals are getting feedback to teachers, it should also speak to how principals are providing adequate support to teachers, how will the district office provide adequate support to the teachers so that the teachers can be effective and doing the exact same thing for administrators.

Vargas: You can not have an evaluation system that is to punish people in an unfair way. You need an evaluation system that is aiming at being proven in student achievement and proven in teaching work force. An evaluation system, in order to be effective, has to be aiming at helping a teacher become better each year . . . In order to be fair you have to have an environment of trust and collaboration . . . The parameters around the evaluation have to be also concise. The teachers need to know also the evaluator needs to know what is it we are evaluating.

Question 5: Would you please discuss what you believe are some of the most successful and/or promising models of alternative education and would you please discuss your experience relative to successful implementation of alternative education programs.

Spencer: It’s very important to recognize and realize that students are different. . . so we have to step outside of the approach of having a one size fit all in education. We have to really begin to adjust what we do for each individual student. So when we talk about alternative programs, a piece that we put in place in Houston is what we call Grab Labs. For students who are struggling but they need some additional opportunity to recover credits. [Students] can work with the teacher, face to face, for a period of their instructional day. Then that student may be allowed to go to work or that student may be allowed to something in addition that may need to do outside of school and then coming back and having an opportunity to . . . work with their skill on software on the computer. . . In addition to that particular piece we have, what we call, a personal graduation plan . . . [that] starts in sixth grade. Every single student in the district gets a personal graduation plan [which] puts them on a pathway . . . that helps us to map out milestones that student must accomplish in order to graduate high school. Our high school programs should involve getting all of our kids certified so that by the time that they leave high school, those kids are certified to enter into a career . . . you have to do the exact same thing for those kids who are interested in going to college.

Vargas: My internship for School Counselor, I did at Josh Lofton High School. . . Lofton became, unfortunately, a school that children were sent pretty much to the same setting that they left . . . they didn’t have the social-emotional support in place that some of them most needy children need . . . also one component that is extremely important . . . you must be flexible with time . . . you must have a safety component to it. [The school] must protect our kid in a way that that child finds meaningful .
. . The most useful model are those that are comprehensive where art and music . . . and exciting curriculum is not just part of the so called “good school”. An alternative school is one that is exciting . . . but also the social-emotional component that goes along with academic program needs to be in place and also we must strive to have the most effective teachers in the system to be part of that in order for parents and the students to take that seriously. To summarize, an effective school . . . meets the needs of each child, it recognizes that its not just about academics, but its about the arts and music, the social-emotional needs of the child, and yes, it has to be safe and orderly.

Question 6: How can you have a productive collegial relationship that also improves student outcomes?

Spencer: I think its important to, 1. Begin to sit down at the table and have a conversation about common goals. It’s important to have advisory groups that are representative of that particular union group and have a conversation with that advisory group to get a true understanding of what the needs are, what the desires are, what is it that we need to have in place to make sure that we’re supporting teachers . . . we’re supporting principals. I think it’s also important to come back to the table with the leaders of the teacher’s union [to] develop a protocol . . . that allows us to be 1. transparent within that conversation 2. we always have to keep kids first in that conversation . . . [and] continue to build relationships. So there are ways in which we can begin to forge and develop relationships with teacher’s unions and always keep in the forefront of those conversations, it’s always about the student.

Vargas: . . . Education is to educate the child. Everything that you do in terms of the relationship with the teacher’s union, you bring that to the table. . . The evaluation system that we just have agreed to has, what, it has student learning as one of the goals as measured by State standards and local developed tests. . . We come to have a rigorous evaluation system that was approved by the State Education department, I call that evidence. As a result the New York Education department has provided us with a grant of over $12 million dollars devoted to teacher development because you cannot have a highly effective teacher in every classroom unless we provide the support and the training that they need to do the job.

To be continued . . .

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