Fixing MPS

The Greek myth of Sisyphus tells the story of a man condemned by the gods to roll a rock up a hill only to have it roll back down each time, forcing him to repeat the task over and over again for eternity.

Some might argue that Sisyphus is the perfect metaphor for the vexing problem of education reform, particularly in Milwaukee.

The performance of many urban public schools has been abysmal for decades. And it seems that every few years a new set of reforms are announced with great fanfare. But the results have generally been the same or worse. Same as it ever was.

So it was with a good deal of skepticism that I attended an announcement last fall of a new initiative designed to finally address the problems facing Milwaukee Public Schools. I showed up at the news conference prepared to hear the latest school reform flavor of the month. Would it be smaller classes and more teachers, a revamped curriculum, a new set of high stakes tests or a combination of all of the above?

I was wrong on all counts. What was unveiled that day wasn’t a plan, but a new process for involving the entire community in developing a strategic plan for MPS.

“For the first time ever,” the news release trumpeted, “leaders from Milwaukee Public Schools, the Milwaukee Board of School Directors, the Milwaukee Teachers Education Association and the Greater Milwaukee Committee have joined together to focus the community’s attention on higher expectations for student achievement in MPS.”

Better late than never
Sister Joel Read, former president of Alverno College and chair of the GMC’s education committee, said the announcement represented “a turning point for MPS, for the children of Milwaukee and the entire community.”

This is a sad statement, though true. MPS leadership, the teachers union and civic and business organizations have indeed failed previously to successfully come together to sort through the problems of the school district, whose concerns they all inherently share.

In a combined statement, the groups said “MPS’ current student achievement results are unacceptable. MPS can and must do a better job educating students and preparing them for college and career.”

Since that day last fall, nearly 20 public hearings were scheduled to solicit input from parents and other members of the community. An organization called Focus on Results was brought in, with support from local businesses, to assist in the development of a new strategic plan for MPS.

The result is a “draft action plan” organized around a set of principles so basic as to be inarguable, which was unveiled in May. Sister Joel said the collaboration between MPS Superintendent William Andrekopoulos and WTEA Executive Director Sam Carmen was unprecedented, and called the 35 page document a “good first step.”

I must admit that I didn’t feel like breaking out in a chorus of “Kumbaya” when the superintendent of Milwaukee Public Schools and the leader of the teachers union reached an agreement on a set of principles for improving Milwaukee’s schools. That’s not news, it’s simply long overdue.

The proposal lists eight goals and dozens of strategies organized around three Strategic Areas (Student Success through Academic Achievement, High-Performing Schools and Classrooms and District and Community Support) without going into specifics about how these suggestions will be implemented (visit the GMC’s website to see the draft action plan).

The primary innovation appears to lie in the recommendation that the implementation plan be developed using the model of performance-based budgeting. The budget process will: 1) Track and report progress toward the plan’s goals; 2) Provide a process for reviewing and updating the plan’s goals and objectives; and 3) Link available resources to support attainment of the goals. Agreeing to this approach is indeed a major first step, but in truth it’s still a theory with no practice mechanisms under discussions as yet.

Sister Joel acknowledges that the draft, which must be reviewed and approved by the school board, is lacking in details, but she doesn’t anticipate any major controversies, though speed to action may be an issue.

“We can’t do the implementation without the approval of the school board and the school board doesn’t move quickly,” she said.

Pragmatic leadership may be our best hope
Sister Joel insists she is no Pollyanna. She knows that much of the difficult work remains, and she has little patience for the status quo.

“The existing process needs to be improved,” she said. “There are things we are doing that we have to stop doing, and there are things we aren’t doing that we need to start doing.”

And there’s a hint of steel in her voice when she urges people to stop complaining and get involved in the process.
“I’m tired of the whiners.”

The drumbeat of bad news about MPS can be depressing, she says, but giving up is not an option. Educating our children is simply too important and schools can’t do everything without a commitment from the entire community.

The cynic in me wanted to rail against yet another “initiative” that in the end produced just one more “unprecedented alliance” agreeing upon a “set of principles” with no tangible action points or solid plan. But it is Sister Joel and her leadership who’ve won me over to at least cautious optimism. She may have just the right combination of expertise, independence and authority to keep this process on track. Effective leaders, like the best teachers, inspire us to accomplish things we may have never thought possible.

So God speed, Sister Joel. Here’s hoping you manage to get that rock to the other side of the hill. VS