Rebuilding Place in the Urban Space

"A community’s physical form, rather than its land uses, is its most intrinsic and enduring characteristic." [Katz, EPA] This blog focuses on place and placemaking and all that makes it work--historic preservation, urban design, transportation, asset-based community development, arts & cultural development, commercial district revitalization, tourism & destination development, and quality of life advocacy--along with doses of civic engagement and good governance watchdogging.

Wednesday, November 02, 2022

National Community Planning Month: Schools as neighborhood anchors

This post is a little late, National Community Planning Month ended yesterday, the end of October.

I had a bunch of ideas to write a bunch of pieces over the course of the month, like on citizen participation and civic engagement through participation in planning engagements, and on best practice engagement programs involving community groups and planning agencies ("Framingham Massachusetts creates Citizen Participation Officer position," 2018).

Next year...

Students, parents, and teachers participating in a clean up of the school grounds, Wasatch Elementary School, Salt Lake.

Schools as fundamental neighborhood anchors.  One of the ideas for a piece was built on my pieces around the idea that the way we do "neighborhood planning" and schools planning is upside down in that elementary schools are key community-civic assets embedded in neighborhoods, and the neighborhoods with successful elementary schools usually function better than neighborhoods with less successful schools--for a variety of reasons.

So we should re-prioritize planning around this point, making neighborhoods better by making schools better and vice versa.  

-- "One way in which community planning is completely backwards," 2011
-- "Missing the most important point about Clifton School closure in Fairfax County," 2011
-- "Rethinking community planning around maintaining neighborhood civic assets and anchors," 2011
-- "The bilingual Key Elementary School in Arlington County as another example of the "upsidedownness" of community planning," 2019

Yes, I know some of this is about demographics.  Schools with high income demographics tend to do much better than those with low income demographics.

But Dallas and their Transformation Schools initiative has proven that with the addition of focused resources and initiatives, that doesn't have to be the case.  

-- "Dallas parents flocking to schools that pull students from both rich and poor parts of town," Hechinger Report

Well not exactly, what they do is in a very purposeful way, they bring high and low income demographics together, in ways where both groups are well served. 

2.  Special Funding.  What this should mean is that schools should get additional funding, from the local government separate from the school system, or the school system's budget should include support, for these functions.  

Another element could be treating schools as "neighborhood cultural centers" too, the way I describe how neighborhood libraries should be positioned ("Neighborhood libraries as nodes in a neighborhood and city-wide network of cultural assets," 2019).

An activist arrives at the entrance of Parker Elementary School in Oakland, where parents and community organizers occupied the building after it was closed by the school district. (Melina Mara/The Washington Post)

3.  Recognition of the need for school support = neighborhood support.  There are stories about school closure planning in Oakland, California ("In Oakland, closing schools opens questions about a city’s soul," Washington Post).  

What amazed me about the situation is that the city has lots of charter schools ("How Charter Schools Became Such a Big Player in California's Education System," KQED/NPR), and they drew off enrollment from the traditional schools, so those schools started failing, in turn having negative impact on the neighborhood.  

One way to think of this is as mitigation.  If new schools are allowed to draw off students, and schools in neighborhoods are key neighborhood assets, this policy needs to be further considered.

Open enrollment is a problem in a way.  While it expands choice, opportunity, and equity, at the same time it disconnects students from neighborhood schools.  It's also complicated because some people in low income neighborhoods believe that local schools are always inferior to schools in high income areas ("DCPS middle schools in black wards, "positive deviance" and the pull of the attractiveness of schools in the upper income wards west," 2022).

4.  Individual schools need a program to systematically build relationships with their neighborhood.  (Note that sometime in the next few months, I plan to write a dedicated blog entry on this topic.)

A big problem, at least in cities, is that households have a lot fewer children.  In the average city, fewer than 25% of households have children, so that means 75% of the households in the average neighborhood have limited interest or connection to the local schools.

That means that schools need to invest resources in engaging with the neighborhood beyond the school grounds.  But school districts don't invest in this, don't create assistance programs for schools.  Most figure that PTAs suffice, but again, PTAs are mostly comprised of parents of schoolchildren, not interested parties without children.

I found this bookmark, promoting volunteering in the schools, in a book at a Library book sale.  It dates to the 1980s.

Arts Festival and fundraiser, Uintah Elementary School, Salt Lake City.

In Salt Lake, many of the city's schools, even in the West Side low income area, are threatened with closure as long term demographics expect the city's population of school aged children will decline, even as the city's population rises, because most of the new residents will have no children or fewer children, and family sizes are declining (even though Utah, because of the Mormon Church, tends to have way more children per household on average compared to other states).

But in the higher income east side of the city, only one school, just one, out of more than a dozen, is threatened with closure.  That's because that school, on the edge of an exclusive neighborhood, is in an area where the demographics don't favor households with children.

The school district doesn't understand at all the link between neighborhoods and school success, school success and neighborhoods, and the need to invest in outreach and building relationships beyond the school grounds.

Although many of the schools do art festivals in the Spring, doing great projects as fundraisers.  I don't know if that happens at the poorer schools too.

My neighborhood school, Bonneville Elementary, has introduced its first fall festival.

But assistance to schools for marketing, for creating successful differentiated programs, is wanting.  

There is a big arts initiative, and some STEM efforts, but language programs and other innovative programs like Montessori, present elsewhere, aren't part of the discussion here.

Turn a place around workshop, Project for Public Spaces.  Ironically, when I first got involved in urban revitalization in my Northeast DC neighborhood 20+ years ago, because of the disconnection from the neighborhood problem, I suggested that the local school do a form of the PPS "How to Turn A Place Around" workshop, focused on building connections between the neighborhood and the school, if only to reduce vandalism.

The school had a special program in French, and for a long time had higher enrollments, because resident grandparents were illegally enrolling their suburban resident grandchildren in the local school.  This was a childcare measure among others.  

Capital City Public Charter School, DC.  This school is located a couple blocks from our DC house, and for the first few years after it opened, they made a big effort to do outreach to the neighborhood, to invite residents to school events, etc., but it fell off.   I think this is an element of their "expeditionary learning" approach.

But they did place the school playground in the front yard of the school so it could also serve the neighborhood.  And they've created a food forest on their grounds too ("For D.C. students, lessons in growth, of the garden variety," Washington Post).

5.  Community schools.  One type of program, although more focused on schools in low income neighborhoods, is called "community schools" ("Schools #2: Successful school programs in low income communities and the failure of DC to respond similarly," 2019). 

There are a number of great examples ("Community Schools Offer More Than Just Teaching," New York Times).  From the article:

Community schools, which, among other things, integrate nonprofits, businesses and colleges on the school site to offer services to students and their families, have existed for more than a century. There are now an estimated 5,000 such schools nationwide, according to the national Coalition for Community Schools. ...

The trend is bolstered by research demonstrating that community schools help increase students’ attendance and graduation rates. By addressing an array of student and family issues — from hunger and homelessness to health care — schools are lifting barriers that prevent students from fully participating in and benefiting from their education. The approach also helps to build trust that allows families to embrace the schools and their child’s learning. ...

A full-service community school includes four elements: various integrated support services through nonprofits, businesses and higher-education institutions; active family and community engagement; expanded and enriched learning, which can include after-school, weekends and summers; and collaborative partnerships among parents, students, school administrators and community leaders.

And not mentioned in the NYT article is the "Family Learning Center" model being expanded in Vancouver, Washington ("As need soars, schools rally behind families in Vancouver, Wash. — and other cities take notice," Seattle Times).

6.  Related is the concept of co-location, "joint use" and "shared services" between agencies to further support schools.  For example, why couldn't the local library system be involved in running school media centers?  I read somewhere that Helsinki does this.

In Baltimore County, the Department of Recreation and Parks invests in recreation and community serving facilities in schools, so that these facilities can serve the community beyond the school day, and at the level required, which might be more than what the school would normally provide to serve only its school population.  They've done this for 70+ years.  It's sad that it's so atypical.

An obvious example are playgrounds.

-- "Joint Use Agreements," Planning for Whole Communities Toolkit, Puget Sound Regional Council
-- Shared Use webpage, Change Lab Solutions

7.  Walk and Bike to School initiatives as a way to do urban design improvements in a neighborhood.  While I argue that transportation agencies should be planning for "walkable communities" not pedestrians ("Planning for place/urban design/neighborhoods versus planning for transportation modes: new 17th Street NW bike lanes | Walkable community planning versus "pedestrian" planning," ), the improvements that come from developing safe routes to schools also serve neighborhoods.

-- "Wednesday is National Walk and Roll to School Day," 2022 
-- "Why isn't walking/biking to school programming an option in Suburban Omaha? | Inadequacies in school transportation planning," 2022

Note that such programs should also address night time activities ("Night-time safety: rethinking lighting in the context of a walking community," 2014).

School Walk and Bike Routes: A Guide for Planning and Improving Walk and Bike to School Options for Students, Washington State Department of Transportation
-- Safe Routes to School program, Washington State Department of Transportation
-- City of Tacoma SRTS program, including SRTS Action Plan.  

Walk and bike to school activities can also be a way to engage residents who don't have children, in supporting "bike buses" and "walking school buses."

But if kids aren't neighborhood residents, they aren't going to be walking or biking.

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15 Comments:

At 1:07 PM, Blogger Richard Layman said...

Salt Lake Tribune: Granite School District is looking to close these 3 elementary schools.
https://www.sltrib.com/news/education/2022/11/08/granite-school-district-is/

 
At 8:12 PM, Blogger Mari said...

Hi Richard I know it has been a while since I've commented.
You have a lot of points here but let me start off with a major one, demographics around neighborhood schools. You acknowledge that less than 25% of urban households have kids. And thus, don't have a relationship with a neighborhood school further than a landmark or maybe a place where they go to vote. And because of school safety measures, even parents just can't walk into a school. And this was before COVID. So you can talk about it being a neighborhood resource, but but if you don't have kids at that particular school, you are not allowed to be there during school hours, except for certain events. It's not like a community center or a library, which would be better for community centric programming. So instead of trying to make a school into a community resource how about making community resources, like libraries better. Libraries are open to the public, even sex-offenders, all ages and even to people outside of the community. Libraries can serve 100% of the surrounding community, not just a quarter.

So we moved from DC to a MD community with a highly regarded elementary school (not so much the high school). On the community email listserv there are emails for residents to support the local school with a fundraiser or reporting damage to the building and just giving a sense of community support. Even if you don't have kids going to the neighborhood school there is attitude of support and care towards it. We're not sending Destructo-kid to the neighborhood school for reasons I'm not going to get into. Because of that spirit towards the school I've never gone into the reasons, because that would be a criticism of the school, which would be unwelcome. Anyway, community support of a school must be cultivated by the residents borne out of a genuine love and duty, but not a lot of guilt tripping.

When it comes to the community it looks like you want the community to support the school and the school the support the community. A school may not have much to offer a functional and strong community or a community mostly made up of empty nesters, DINKs, or young single professionals.

It would just be better/easier to have great public programming in libraries. Libraries serve a wide range of income levels.

 
At 8:45 PM, Blogger Richard Layman said...

Mari, of course you raise a good point. Key. I do know that the arts festival and I think the community festivals at the area Salt Lake Lake City schools are open to the public. And plays, which are promoted beyond the school audience. But yes, for obvious security reasons schools can't be the community center that I envision.

But there are still ways they can be better engaged, if not exactly open. They need to do this in order to be able to compete against other schools, as some face closure.

E.g., a small city next to Salt Lake, also a township, kind of complicated, the multi-city school district that covers them is closing three schools. That will have a big impact on the city and its neighborhoods.

https://www.ksl.com/article/50535549/granite-school-district-votes-to-close-3-elementary-schools

2. WRT libraries, well, I would think you know I am down with that. E.g.,

http://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2019/03/update-neighborhood-libraries-as-nodes.html

and various "comments"/citations here:

https://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2021/04/national-library-week-april-4th-10th.html

But I have to say even if I find some significant planning issues, despite all that they do (and it pisses them off that I mention it), both the Salt Lake City and County library systems are impressive with programming. Especially the County, albeit in a suburban context. They are listed in a couple of best practices (the City too) in the big piece.

But post covid, I've seen them do some interesting programs--don't know how they've been in terms of attendance. When they rebuilt the library in West Jordan, they added an events center, and this year already, they've sponsored a teen dance, and an adult dance. The branch libraries I go to (three different ones) have a big set of programs, are used for community meetings, etc.

The new Granite Library has an amazing maker space with a green room, and the big meeting room has a demonstration kitchen.

The City Library system does a lot of programming too, but not as much. The difference is the county is big enough, and it would be hard for a lot of people to get to West Jordan without transportation.

Anyway, like my ur piece lays out at the end, you need to incorporate flexible spaces first. And then you need to invest in the people who can do programming. I think that's a bit dependent on whether or not particular librarians are into it.

But libraries are the most public facing civic assets there are. I think in general libraries and the ALA are responding, but they need more resources (just like the schools do).

 
At 11:13 PM, Blogger Richard Layman said...

Philadelphia has moved its magnet schools from application to lottery, for equity reasons, significantly reducing the number of students able to function at the expected levels, with significant reductions in outcomes, increased classroom problems etc.

It seems they needed to take the Dallas approach.

https://www.inquirer.com/news/masterman-school-admissions-lottery-philadelphia-equity-parent-complaints-20230226.html

 
At 12:49 PM, Blogger Richard Layman said...

https://www.ocregister.com/2023/03/04/theres-a-dire-need-for-male-teachers-of-color-these-men-are-stepping-up/

Special minority teacher training program at a CSU school.

 
At 3:34 PM, Blogger Richard Layman said...

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/09/nyregion/dyslexia-programs-reading-schools.html

Searching for Struggling Readers, One School at a Time

Two new specialized dyslexia programs will open at Brooklyn public schools as New York focuses more on children with the learning disability.

As many as 10 to 20 percent of New York City students could have dyslexia like Anthony, according to some estimates. New York has begun trying to find more of them and help them catch up. ...

The city’s dyslexia efforts have gained steam as New York and many school systems across the country are confronting longstanding literacy crises that often worsened during the pandemic.

Beyond the city’s dyslexia efforts, the schools chancellor, David C. Banks, has pushed schools to move away from “balanced literacy” — an approach to teaching reading that focuses on exposing children to books, with less attention to sounding out words through phonics-based instruction. Research shows phonics can be important for beginning readers, while some of the strategies used in balanced literacy lessons, including guessing words, are problematic for students who struggle.

Mr. Banks has said that balanced literacy, which the New York City Education Department once promoted, has failed many Black and Latino children. Just under half of New York City students passed state reading tests last spring. ...

The city’s effort to overhaul its literacy instruction and its approach to dyslexia represents a substantial undertaking for a system that has long lacked a comprehensive approach to curriculum and was often viewed as inadequately preparing teachers to be effective in the classroom.

“We’re just reminded all the time of how much larger New York City is than all of the other districts,” said Carolyne Quintana, the deputy chancellor of teaching and learning.

This spring, all elementary principals are expected to begin a training course focused on the fundamentals of the science of reading that many school systems around the country use. Still, many schools are deeply loyal to the approaches to teaching reading that the schools chancellor hopes he can persuade them to leave behind.

 
At 3:37 PM, Blogger Richard Layman said...

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2019/07/education-isnt-enough/590611/

Better Schools Won’t Fix America

Like many rich Americans, I used to think educational investment could heal the country’s ills—but I was wrong. Fighting inequality must come first.

Great public schools are the product of a thriving middle class, not the other way around.

o be clear: We should do everything we can to improve our public schools. But our education system can’t compensate for the ways our economic system is failing Americans. Even the most thoughtful and well-intentioned school-reform program can’t improve educational outcomes if it ignores the single greatest driver of student achievement: household income. ...

However justifiable their focus on curricula and innovation and institutional reform, people who see education as a cure-all have largely ignored the metric most predictive of a child’s educational success: household income.

The scientific literature on this subject is robust, and the consensus overwhelming. The lower your parents’ income, the lower your likely level of educational attainment. Period. But instead of focusing on ways to increase household income, educationists in both political parties talk about extending ladders of opportunity to poor children, most recently in the form of charter schools. For many children, though—especially those raised in the racially segregated poverty endemic to much of the United States—the opportunity to attend a good public school isn’t nearly enough to overcome the effects of limited family income.

As Lawrence Mishel, an economist at the liberal-leaning Economic Policy Institute, notes, poverty creates obstacles that would trip up even the most naturally gifted student. He points to the plight of “children who frequently change schools due to poor housing; have little help with homework; have few role models of success; have more exposure to lead and asbestos; have untreated vision, ear, dental, or other health problems; … and live in a chaotic and frequently unsafe environment.”

Indeed, multiple studies have found that only about 20 percent of student outcomes can be attributed to schooling, whereas about 60 percent are explained by family circumstances—most significantly, income. Now consider that, nationwide, just over half of today’s public-school students qualify for free or reduced-price school lunches, up from 38 percent in 2000. Surely if American students are lagging in the literacy, numeracy, and problem-solving skills our modern economy demands, household income deserves most of the blame—not teachers or their unions. ...

We have confused a symptom—educational inequality—with the underlying disease: economic inequality. Schooling may boost the prospects of individual workers, but it doesn’t change the core problem, which is that the bottom 90 percent is divvying up a shrinking share of the national wealth. Fixing that problem will require wealthy people to not merely give more, but take less.

 
At 4:22 PM, Blogger Richard Layman said...

Rehabilitation program for Boston Public Schools pitched as "green new deal for schools."

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/01/02/metro/so-what-actually-is-green-new-deal-boston-public-schools-anyway

The Green New Deal for BPS would greatly accelerate the pace of construction in a school system that has built fewer than a dozen new schools over the last 40 years, and where some buildings date to the 1800s.

The city intends to combine small schools, build new schools in every neighborhood, and switch to a consistent grade configuration across the district. The aim is to adapt to declining enrollment; to offer families better facilities; to make sure all schools are equipped with the space they need for libraries, inclusive special education, and other programs; and to reduce the city’s carbon footprint.

Most of the new work done since May has been focused on planning: community engagement meetings at schools across the city, and work on three major planning documents, all due to be completed this year.

The first is a comprehensive look at the condition of all the district’s school buildings. The second study will outline what the district needs to switch to a pre-K-6 and 7-12 grade configuration.

”That’s going to really inform and shape our vision process to all of this,” said Superintendent Mary Skipper.

The third planning document will incorporate the first two and lay out a big plan to address all those needs, beyond the initial projects announced in May. The new 10-year facilities master plan will guide decisions about which projects to undertake, in what order, and how much it will cost.

 
At 5:07 PM, Blogger Richard Layman said...

Following on the point about Harlem Children's Zone and the need for wraparound services, but as students go to college too.

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/03/04/opinion/community-college-grant-program-shows-early-success/

Community college grant program shows early success
Programs to retain students are desperately needed, given Massachusetts’ dismal rate of community college completion — particularly among minority students.

In 2021, the Legislature created a grant program called SUCCESS, Supporting Urgent Community College Equity through Student Services. Every community college received money to provide services like Dropout Academy to help vulnerable students: those who are low-income, first-generation, minority, LGBTQ, or have disabilities.

Programs like these are desperately needed, given Massachusetts’ dismal rate of community college completion, particularly among minority students. While it is too early to measure the impact on graduation rates, data from the program’s first year are promising. Governor Maura Healey is proposing expanding funding from $14 million this year to $18 million next fiscal year. Lawmakers should agree while continuing to monitor the program to ensure it leads to higher graduation rates.

For over a decade, study after study has shown that Black and Latino men in Massachusetts have lower rates of college completion than their peers.

According to 2023 Lumina Foundation data, six years after entering college, 57 percent of Massachusetts students had obtained a degree but only 42 percent of Black students and 29 percent of Hispanic students had.

Lane Glenn, president of Northern Essex Community College, helped develop the idea for SUCCESS and sits on the program’s leadership committee. Glenn argues that community colleges, compared to other sectors of higher education, spend the least money per student while serving students who need the most support. The idea of SUCCESS is to offer personalized attention to the populations most at risk of dropping out. It is modeled after earlier programs, like Massachusetts’ 100 Males to College program, and the federal TRIO program, which gives grants for services to students from disadvantaged backgrounds.

“When community colleges have extra money to do things like this, we do them and it works,” Glenn said.

Early data show an impact. A report from the Massachusetts Association of Community Colleges, which will be made public later this month, found that more than 460 positions — like coaches, academic advisers, and mentors — were supported by SUCCESS funding and over 6,300 students participated in SUCCESS programs. They were largely first-generation, economically disadvantaged students, with a sizeable share identifying as Black or Hispanic.

 
At 10:54 AM, Blogger Mari said...

"Like many rich Americans, I used to think educational investment could heal the country’s ills—but I was wrong. Fighting inequality must come first."

Nope.

Education must be first. Providing skills students need must be part of fighting inequality. I'm just going to point north to Baltimore where a poor mother was on the news bemoaning that her 4th grader could not read.
Administrators might think they are fighting inequality by socially advancing the illiterate student to the next grade and eventually giving him a diploma. They will also dismiss the state tests showing the student can't read as being racist or culturally insensitive. None on this provides the student the skills to compete for higher paying knowledge jobs.

My aunts grew up as poor sharecroppers and went to HBCUs where they got the education and skills that have allowed them good careers and very comfortable retirements. And for myself, my local government provided the opportunities to form a good base that my career is based on.
As a parent I see public schools being too concerned with activism and less about treating a child who can't read like the emergency that it is. Yea, there's probably a program or a written procedure to address student literacy, but despite the existence of such things, we have students who can't read. And the function of a school.
The whole reason for existing is to teach children how to read and write and do basic math.

 
At 11:43 PM, Blogger Richard Layman said...

"The Philly school board wants the next mayor to prioritize these four things"

https://www.inquirer.com/news/philadelphia-school-district-board-mayor-forum-education-20230320.html

- Increase funding for the district
- Upgrade school buildings
- Address gun violence
- Offer incentives to better staff schools

With tougher working conditions and salaries that are on average lower than better-resourced, suburban districts, Philadelphia “is at a disadvantage to competitively recruit and retain staff,” the letter said. The board called on the mayor to provide parking for teachers at every school, SEPTA passes for those who use transit, and other incentives to entice workers — loan forgiveness, housing vouchers, and more.

 
At 1:38 PM, Blogger Richard Layman said...

SeaTac/Kent School District in Washington State builds sidewalk to access elementary school (that had been open for two years) in between the end of the term and the start of the new one.

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/transportation/kent-keeps-its-sidewalk-promise-to-schoolchildren

Kent keeps its sidewalk promise to schoolchildren

9/4/23

 
At 10:13 PM, Blogger Richard Layman said...

https://chicago.suntimes.com/columnists/2024/03/21/theres-another-important-election-in-april-its-for-local-school-councils-a-force-for-parent-empowerment

There’s another important election in April. It’s for local school councils, a force for parent empowerment
The creation of LSCs goes back to the reform movement under the late Mayor Harold Washington. In the first LSC election in 1989, over 17,000 parents, teachers and community members ran for seats. Now, many schools struggle to find enough candidates.

Robinson emphasized the power that LSCs hold over budgets and school improvement plans.

“Is there something in your school you’re not happy with? Old textbooks or not enough toilet paper?” she asked. “LSCs can help create change to get the school what they need. I say your voice matters. I’ve come across parents who feel like they don’t matter and can’t make change.”

I asked Pauline Lipman, an education professor at the University of Illinois Chicago who has long studied LSCs, about the challenges in recruiting people to run for election. She pointed to the demobilization of parents and communities.

“The disinvestment of neighborhood schools and the establishment of choice and markets in education has really disconnected people from their neighborhood schools,” Lipman said.

 
At 11:42 PM, Blogger Mari said...

Maybe the type of people who would have run for these positions no longer exist. Sort of like the population of people who wear hats like fedoras. Those people once existed, those exact individuals from 1989 are probably enjoying being grandparents. The population that has come after them may not have been formed in a way that draws them towards that duty.

This week I virtually attended my kid's school's PTA, and it seems we've got a very good group. My spouse volunteers an insane amount of time at the school. It helps that there are no (if there are, we're not aware of them) people making us feel bad for supporting our school. A few years back I remember WP stories about guilt tripping successful public/charter school PTAs because poorer schools aren't as successful. Or podcasts like 'Nice White Parents' which signaled to higher resourced parents to step back. Instead we are encouraged to step it up. Yes, sometimes it is annoying.

Disinvestment in public schools is going to happen.
If you haven't noticed, people are having fewer kids, if any at all. Families are getting smaller. And don't expect a positive bump from immigrant groups. Those parents are less likely to volunteer (or have the time) or invest (time again) in their kids' school.

Nor will I expect the childless (with all their free time) to invest in their neighborhood school. The demographics are working against individual investment.

Depending on the family situation a parent's energy might be better spent elsewhere to improve their child's education. The amount of time and mental health needed to deal with the bureaucracy to get decent bathrooms in a poor school (why the fuq is it the parents' job to fight for it when the school is supposed to provide it in the 1st place?), which may or may not work out, is not worth it. Parents who care are better off moving (or lying about their address like my in-laws did), fighting to get into a better school, paying for a private or home schooling.

 
At 7:54 AM, Blogger Mari said...

I wonder with current trends if many public schools are going to go the way of public housing?

Meaning that for most schools, in most urban and suburban areas, they will be dumping grounds for poor students with no other options. Public housing, used to be positive for working class families. Think about Old Greenbelt. When I would process records/documents of circa 1930-1940s DC public housing and in applications people would highlight how they'd be good tenants. People wanted public housing, because public housing wasn't synonymous with crime and poverty.

There's great public housing, clean and almost crime free, and those tend to be housing for seniors. And likewise there are super excellent public schools that could rival private schools. However those schools tend to be in wealthier neighborhoods, have two parent privilege, and attract teachers who really want to be there.

We've touched on demographics and how most people in a neighborhood have no children to send to their neighborhood school. Great schools tend to attract families to move into neighborhoods for the sake of sending their kids to neighborhood schools. I don't think it's realistic to try to make the school great if it has already been in a death spiral for years. Some schools (I think that one in DC's Capitol Hill) have been pulled up to greatness, but that was done with some REALLY dedicated parents doing things then that would be immediately criticized and shut down today.

If you're looking at the problem of schools from a policy POV you have a longer timeline than parents. Their kid is only 7 years old once, and only for a year. The program to serve 2nd graders needs to be in place now, not 2 years in the future or the next year. When you ask for parental investment, know when the investment pays off for the parent. Don't ask them to dedicate their spare hours or their personal leave or family time for something their kid/kids won't benefit from.

Regarding the Chicago article, I don't see how the investment of time and energy justifies the reward of 'winning' a seat. That is unless the person has other ambitions and running for the LSC is a stepping stone for other career goals. There was mention that some major decision power was taken away from them "Currently, 62 schools are on probation, and 30 of the LSCs do not have final approval on the improvement plans and budget, according to CPS. And 13 of those schools do not have full authority in selecting the principal." If that is part of a growing trend then it appears it is a waste of time for parents.

 

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