Waiting...Waiting...

So are we all really waiting for Superman to ‘save’ America’s young people and reform our school? As far as I can tell he was a wonderful comic book character and fun to watch on TV…but not real. So I'm not waiting for Superman nor are the many people I know across the country who are part of efforts to reconnect schooling and community and return our schools to their rightful place as centers of community where we all pitch in and work together to help young people succeed; where we nurture our young people not only as workers, but equally important as future family members and citizens of our democracy.

The focus on charter schools and busting teacher unions set forth in the film Waiting for Superman is but one more example of a shortsighted, silver bullet approach to change that permeates too much of education reform today. Of course we need highly qualified teachers and some provisions of teacher contracts should change. Our friends at the AFT and NEA have been negotiating such contracts placing high priority on the full participation of teachers in decisions about teacher evaluation and incentive pay. But we must remember another fact that President Obama mentions often: teachers are the most important in-school factor (with principal leadership not far behind); but family engagement and family circumstances are the most important out-of-school factors and that family and community simply cannot be overlooked in education reform discussions.

We cannot forget that schools – whether regular, magnet, alternative, charter or otherwise -- are creatures of their local communities. That is what makes them uniquely American. They are supported by local tax payers, and nurtured by the work of individual citizens working collectively. At their best our schools, our community schools, bring together all of us to help our young people learn and succeed and build stronger families and community.

There can be no question that our young people need the very best teachers in our classrooms, and charter schools have emerged as a viable part of the mix. However, to suggest that all we need is charters and better teachers simplifies the reality in the lives of young people; the reality that many of our educators and our students face every day. And the truth is that many charter school operators know this reality too…that’s why three of the 11 new grantees under the federal Full Service Community Schools Program are charter organizations, including the widely known Green Dot organization.

For advocates of community schools the challenge of educating all of our children is simply more complex than what Waiting for Superman suggests. It is indeed about how we bring all of our assets and resource together – our educators, our community organizations, local government, higher education, community-based organizations and individual citizens – in a joint effort to improve the life chances and opportunities of our young people

General Colin Powell said it best on NBC’s series of EducationNation programs. Powell said “We are Superman,” reflecting the vision of the America's Promise Alliance. Powell made clear that he shares the belief of the Coalition for Community Schools that it takes all of us to help our young people.

As the conversation about Waiting for Superman continues we urge advocates for community schools to be there, to speak out and to make clear what it really takes to educate all of our children.

-Marty Blank

Lessons from the Chilean Miners

Just a few short weeks ago the whole world watched as Chile rescued 33 men from deep underground. It was a stunning moment reflecting that nation’s capacity and will, the strength and soul of the miners and their families and the ability of leaders in government and business to work together. As I watched and shared the joy of the rescue I could not help thinking about and old adage from the work that I have been doing form the last 15 years: top-down and bottom-up.

Top-down and bottom-up in the world of community schools and social policy suggests that the students, families and neighborhood residents who are striving to see succeed must be active agents of change in their own lives, in their schools and in their communities. Policymakers cannot do their work in isolation from these constituents. The task for policymakers is to create the conditions that will enable local people who are struggling to succeed. Policymakers must not only finance vital supports and opportunities, they must also set in place policies that provide incentives for organizations and agencies to collaborate to attain common goals. In formulating these policies they must listen carefully and continuously to the voices of students, families and community residents, and be accountable to them. And they must model this kind of cross-boundary collaboration themselves.

In Chile all the efforts of the government and the many other nations and corporations and individuals who built and used the machinery to drill the holes and who so brilliantly used new technologies to save the miners ...all of that capacity would not have meant much in the absence of the will of the miners, their leadership and organization, and the love, commitment and advocacy of their families. Had the miners at the bottom not had worked together, and not harness the support of their families; had Chile’s leaders not worked collaboratively with the miners and with other resources, the story might have been very different. Everyone needed to be on board. They were…and the results show what can be accomplished when everyone works together.

So as we work in communities across America whether it is for Community Schools, for Promise Neighborhoods, or for other community and school change strategies, let’s remember that the so-called tops and bottoms must work together, that people will support what they help to create; that policy and practice must support and empower. This is not an easy task at a time of scarce resources when people want quick fixes and quick results. But it is absolutely essential to our goals of helping all young people be ready for college, career and citizenship.

-Marty Blank