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Question at Yale: Can Can Community Organizing Be a Game Changer?

Among the many ear-to-the-ground indicators surfacing at the annual Yale School of Management (SOM) Educational Leadership Conference April 6-7 were recurring references to the importance of community organizing at the state, county, city, and school district levels: This can be the key to activating people’s voices – and votes.

 

With the Hartford Board of Education election coming up this fall – and the historically low voter participation levels (well below 10 percent) – attention to community organizing could make a real difference.

 

As well, the work of the Blue Hills Civic Association to gain community interest and involvement in the Weaver High School redesign is yet another crucial, local example of how listening and learning can inform everyone at the table.  But first there has to be a table!

 

At the Yale conference, when Pastor William McCullough of the Faith Acts for Education organization described his work in Bridgeport, he noted that among more than 500 parents and community members engaged, 97 percent got registered to vote.  “There are times when you can’t change mindset,” he advised, “so then you have to mobilize.”

 

Pahara Institute Founder and CEO Kim Smith opened the Yale meeting with the admonition that our society needs to specify who we are talking about empowering – and attend to the central issues, like poverty and the sustainability of strong teachers.

 

Later, Executive Vice President Derrell Bradford of 50can closed the Yale conference with the statement that the failures to serve children, whether by policy, politics, or partisanship, are a national disgrace.

 

A common point of emphasis throughout the conference sessions concerned the seismic clash between disempowerment through systemic racism, and ineffectual (vague, verbose, and gone-with-the-wind) statements about empowerment.  The point was, it’s not enough to look good on paper.  Related points regarding the benefits of community organizing included these:

 

  • CT State Board of Education Member Erik Clemons bemoaned the fact that, as an African American, his “face” is desired at the table – but not necessarily his voice. Those in power need to consider relinquishing some of their comfort so that those who are most vulnerable have some hope, he reflected.  By way of listening, he added, “You need to ask the people who are suffering what they
  • Families and other stakeholders deserve a clear reading of what their city and districts will do budget-wise, school by school, so that they can be empowered. Otherwise, even public officials will both be confused as to what to do … and have no meaningful seat at the table to find out.
  • As CEO Smith put it, binary thinking (‘I’m right, you’re wrong’, etc.) doesn’t work.   Be open-minded enough to consider both Ta-Nehisi Coates’ letter to his son about American racism and its lack of resolution … and the J.D. Vance Hillbilly Elegy concerning the mortality rates of rural whites.
  • Pastor McCullough, among others, also argued for broad confrontation of issues: jobs, housing, minimum wage, quality of life. “Schools are a huge driver of where people want to live,” he said, but they alone cannot solve society’s problems.  In 90-minute lunches informing stakeholders – including 30 church leaders, he said, he has been able to build relationships and forge activism.

Here is our previous article about the Yale conference deliberations; our series will continue with an examination of how incomprehensible budgets are disempowering.


What Are You Doing on Thursday, May 11th?

Inspire Hartford is not only an annual tradition to showcase the accomplishments of great teachers and children in our city: It’s about the trajectory on which students ride to their fullest, most desired potential.  And we ride with them.  So should you.

 

For several years, Achieve Hartford! has held community events designed to showcase the superlatives and skills – and accomplishments – of Hartford students and teachers.  Please consider joining us May 11th for this annual celebration!


Into the Hartford Mix Goes Superintendent Leslie Torres-Rodriguez

Timing matters. And, for our time right now, Hartford schools may have just found the right leader.  All signs are positive early in her tenure, as new Hartford Superintendent Dr. Torres-Rodriguez has received a welcoming and unified reception from the Board and much of the community.  That is a really good sign for Hartford’s future, but what about when the honeymoon ends?  What should we expect from Dr. Torres-Rodriguez’s leadership?  We sat down with her to find out.

 

Dr. Torres-Rodriguez was very open to discussing theory, practice, leadership style, culture, values, and a whole lot more regarding what the District and City need to turn things around. Our summary of that conversation is below.

 

Systems Thinking

When folks look at the Hartford School District, there is so much great work going on from so many talented people. What’s missing, according to the new superintendent, is a focus on organizational excellence.  The lack of strong systems in place, where everyone is on the same page as to how to respond to problems as they arrive, is obvious, she noted, referencing the OCA report on the abuse and neglect of children in the Hartford schools.

 

Unless there are shared understandings from her office right down to every principal and teacher as to what HPS must do in order to be an effective organization, any discussion of improvements may again be more rhetoric than reality.  That cannot suffice.

 

And shared understandings must be supported by strong structures, which she contends are currently missing.  Effective data teams have to be in place, systemically, as right now telling the story of progress is not a main part of the culture at central office – let alone bringing those data on a road show out into the community, which is what Dr. Torres-Rodriguez wants to do.

 

In addition, an advisory structure should be looked at as a way to redefine the way engagement happens, along with rethinking the structures in place for family and community engagement.

 

When asked about how her social work background adds value to her ability to carry out this role, Dr. Torres-Rodriguez noted the training she received to see the inter-relationships between problems and solutions in schools, in the community, in homes, and everywhere.  “Seeing the inter-dependency between programs, departments, partners – and thus the opportunities – is something I always bring to the table,” she said.

 

Much Deeper Relationships

If the Board and District can work together as a high-functioning team aligned and in agreement – even if that alignment starts off around just one initiative – Dr. Torres-Rodriguez told us, all things are possible.  She stressed the need for the Board to become a strong team, on its own, and with her as part of it.

 

She noted real opportunity to strengthen corporate partnerships by trying to be much more intentional about what support is sought – and about building personal relationships with partners. “Some corporations sit in Hartford as experts, for example, in organizational health, and we can tap their expertise, as that is an immediate need we have,” she said, in addition to noting how all voices can help drive the standard for college and career ready skills.

 

Changing Culture

Arguably, Hartford lives in a defeatist culture. We have mentioned this many times.  During our interview, new Superintendent Torres-Rodriguez reflected on the reaction, from some parents, that the PCB-ridden Clark School should be re-opened despite the negative impact on student health.  “Think about how oppressive that is,” she remarked, noting the parents’ desire as one borne out of feeling no better options exist.

 

With respect to the recent Office of the Child Advocate report detailing Boston-Archdiocese-style shunting aside of horrific child abuse and neglect incidents, Dr. Torres-Rodriguez got on the issue fast; as a newly appointed acting superintendent on her eighth day at the helm, the pattern of abuse and neglect in the most disgusting terms suddenly became the narrative for Hartford schools.  She cited her desire to have tough conversations as being a hallmark of her leadership, noting not just the OCA conversations that have started, but also the forums on budget adequacy that she thinks should be the topic of for discussion this coming school year.

 

Focus on Teaching

Hartford Board of Education members have lamented that they don’t know how best to fight for Hartford children, given all the financial and legal constraints put on the system. When we asked Dr. Torres-Rodriguez how to best fight for Hartford children, she reflected, “The magic, to me, happens in the classroom.

 

“So I have to ensure teachers are supported.”

 

 

The Bottom Line

 

Transparency, the superintendent told us, could be her downfall as a leader.

That’s possible, but we don’t think so.

 

Her views, that “the principal drives the bus” and that a culture of continuous improvement will build individual and broader futures in Hartford, seem like pertinent lessons learned for this city.

 

Imagine going to a new country at the age of nine.  Imagine being a social worker and then having responsibility for almost 50 schools, inevitably to be co-located, consolidated, and re-used, so that children don’t just grow up … but grow into jobs and livelihoods they are good at.  As Dr. Torres-Rodriguez put it, Hartford schools have a relationship with the future – in the workforce.  “We are going to produce what they have,” the superintendent told us.  That is what all of us have.


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