No lives, time or money to waste
The case for 21st century transformational public schools
The COVID-19 pandemic has magnified the inequities and dismal return on investment that many of our traditional public education systems have produced. Quality public schools for all students regardless of ZIP code, income, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation and/or learning disability have been uneven at best. We need to fundamentally change how we design, govern, fund and stimulate education innovation at the school level to produce effective public schools and the quality education needed to prepare all students to be career and life ready for the challenges and opportunities of the 21st century.
In Pittsburgh, the school district’s 2021 budget of $673.8 million is on track to spend on average over $30,000 per pupil, which does not take into account the district’s supplemental budget, which in 2019-20 totaled over $200 million (sources: Allegheny Institute for Public Policy and A+ Schools). The Pittsburgh school board will spend at least $750 million (yes, three-quarters of a billion dollars to educate less than 27,000 students, inclusive of charter school and early childhood students) for the 2020-21 school year!
Student academic performance as measured by the 2019 Pennsylvania System of School Assessment shows that PPS student English and math scores were significantly below state averages especially for poor, Black and special-needs students. Results were reported by 48 schools in the district with students in grades 3 through 8. On English language arts, 19 schools had 60% or more of students score basic or below basic (reflecting marginal or inadequate academic performance requiring additional academic support,according to the Department of Education, essentially meaning grade-level proficiency has not been met),and six were at 75% or greater. On math, 37 schools had 60% or more of students score basic or below basic with 23 of those at 75% or greater.
The proposed 21st Century Transformational Public-School model is specifically designed to addressfailing public schools with a laser focus on effective teaching and student learning. The design nurtures an educationally innovative and autonomously governed educational environment at the individual school level held accountable for relevant results to the students andfamilies each school serves.
A relevant example of this innovative concept exists in Indianapolis. The Mind Trust, a 501(c)(3), has grown a unique and effective partnershipwith the city’s school board, union and the mayor’s office. Over one-third, approximately 38 schools within the 30,000-student public school district, have been independently designed, third-party vetted, and autonomously operated under this innovative partnership between the school board and the designer/operators of each of these public schools funded by the district aspublic schools.
The time is now to create systems of quality public schools, rather than managing school districts with failing schools. We must take a “blank sheet of paper,” informed by past and current practices and results to redesign school governance/organization, environment and culture, leadership, teaching and assessment for learning seamlessly integrated with appropriate community and equitable supports that create a strong foundation upon which effective teaching and student learning may thrive.
Annually $750 million ineffectively spent combine with generations of student aspirations unfulfilled.
Ron Sofo, a Morningside resident, is a former superintendent of the Freedom Area School District and former assistant superintendent in the Pittsburgh Public Schools. He runs the Human Engagement for Learning and Productivity consulting service. Shallegra Moye, a resident of McKees Rocks, is an urban education scholar practitioner, with over 20 years of education advocacy and leadership experience.