The Sanders Plan for Governance

The issue of governance is key to ensuring that all students who attend public school in New Orleans are treated equitably and receive an excellent education. Those who will govern serve as the stewards of a great trust, the gatekeepers of vast public resources, the keepers of the dreams that thousands of parents have for their children.

I propose a new entity be organized to bear the name of The New Orleans Unified School District. This new school district will be vastly different from the current Orleans Parish School Board in its mission, its relationship to schools, and its relationship to the community. Yet, at the same time, this new school district will have the necessary infrastructure for public accountability to ensure equity and efficiency in the deployment of resources.

Some people may not believe this can be done. I would direct them to an intriguing report published in 2002 by the Council of Great City Schools (www.cgcs.org). The Council of Great City Schools is a well-established, national coalition of 66 of the nation’s largest urban public school systems. The title of their report is Foundation for Success: Case studies of how urban school systems improve student achievement. Though space does not permit an extensive discussion of the report’s findings, the report highlights how a variety of urban school districts, from those serving over 200,000 students to those serving 51,000 students, made substantive, lasting change in student achievement and business operations. It can be done, it can be done here, and it can be done our way. We can have a system that is unified, that respects school autonomy, engages the community, and most of all educates all children and reduces the achievement gap between races.

With these thoughts in mind, the following five recommendations are made. The rationale for each recommendation is also provided.

Recommendation #1: Reaffirm and retain our commitment to a single governing body for a unified school district.

Rationale: Parents, students, other elected officials and interested parties need a local place of last resort for the sake of accountability. Without a well-defined single source of accountability, ensuring that all students will have access to schools that treat them with equity and excellence will not occur.

Recommendation #2: The elimination of all district-run schools (RSD or OPSB) through the enactment of key policies that mandate all schools to have a community-based governing board (charter or not), and site-based management. The newly-minted unified school district would no longer employ a superintendent, but a Chief Executive Officer, whose primary responsibilities would include facilitating the resolution of citywide educational issues, using objective data to ensure compliance with equitable practices and to monitor student achievement, and to promote innovation through cross-sharing of knowledge between all schools in areas from curriculum to accounting and facility management.

Rationale: The inspiration and excitement for the charter school movement lies principally in the quest for autonomy and the flexibility in approach in order to meet overarching goals. With the enactment of such policies, enshrined in the governance documents as core beliefs and practices, all schools, whether charter or not, would be guaranteed the type of flexibility and autonomy currently experienced.

Recommendation #3: Election of all members citywide

Rationale: All members should be elected not appointed. Appointments do not remove politics it merely changes the politics. Members of the governing body of the unified school district should be elected by the people just as members of the city council and the mayor. Additionally, all members of the board should be elected citywide or at-large. Members should be equally concerned about the whole, charters and non-charters, uptown and the east, rather than a part. District-based thinking is, and has been, myopic, self-centered, and impractical. Having all members elected citywide addresses such issues.

Recommendation #4: Expansion of the board to nine members and term limits:

Rationale: Expansion of the board from seven to nine members would allow for enough members to successfully engage in committee work in areas such as facilities, charter authorization, equity, academic innovation/quality, and strategic planning. It will also allow for potential greater diversity of membership. All board members should be limited to two consecutive terms for reasons similar to those undergirding term limits for city offices such as Mayor and City Council. New ideas, new energy and new faces are needed to rekindle constant public interest and support.

Recommendation #5: Transfer of RSD direct-run schools to the New Orleans Unified School District (to be run with community boards and site-based management); Transfer of OPSB direct-run schools to the New Orleans Unified School District (to be run with community boards and site-based management);Enactment of legislation (or transfer by BESE) making the New Orleans Unified School District the chartering entity for current RSD charter schools to enable the unification of the district to occur legally.

Rationale: As stated earlier, this recommendation would allow for maximum accountability to the public while maintaining the ground for innovation to occur continuously and for equity to be safeguarded.

Accountability. Innovation. Equity. Excellence. These would be the watchwords for the future of public school governance in New Orleans. Of course, implementation of these recommendations will require some time and perhaps could not be implemented until the 2011-2012 school year. The current OPSB has the power to implement the major policy changes recommended as well as the expansion of its number. The change from district to citywide or at-large elections would have to undergo further review by appropriate entities as required by federal law.

It is important to note that what is recommended is not a mere return to the system of old. Charters will remain as long as they are successful. However, the many issues of equity that have arisen post-Katrina would be able to be better addressed. Commonality of data on key areas of concern would be more readily available and usable to promote positive change.

Act 35, the law responsible for the state takeover of schools in Orleans Parish, includes a provision that requires the Recovery School District to recommend whether a school should remain in the RSD, close or be returned to local control. BESE, the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, must act on the recommendation at least six months before the expiration of the initial five-year period of state takeover. The expiration is the end of 2010-2011 school year.

I have seen and witnessed public education in New Orleans as one of its employees, one of its leaders, and one of its end-users as a parent. The culmination of these experiences along with the consideration of the thoughts of leading researchers in the field of education has led to the series of recommendations presented herein. When making a decision that has the ability to impact generations of students and their families, it is critical that such a task be approached with the requisite objectivity regarding the current state of affairs, informed by the viewpoints and needs of the end-users, and balanced by the lessons learned from the past. May the citizens of New Orleans act wisely.