New Haven Independent

Philanthropists Join School Reform Drive

by Melissa Bailey | September 30, 2009 11:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (23)

As New Haven’s charitable sector jumped on board New Haven’s school reform bandwagon, they looked to a philanthropist from the Windy City for a push.

The driver of a nationally renowned Chicago experiment showed at the Lawn Club Tuesday evening as the Community Foundation For Greater New Haven made an announcement, and a pitch.

Foundation CEO Will Ginsberg (at left in photo) invited fellow philanthropists to the club to hear a school reform pitch from school officials, who are vowing to shake up the system and make New Haven’s the best urban system in the country. Ginsberg announced that his foundation has agreed to fund the mayor’s school reform drive, though he didn’t give dollar specifics. He encouraged a crowd of about 100 education activists and philanthropists to get on board, too.

For inspiration and guidance in this new effort, Ginsberg turned to Chicago.

Ginsberg invited Terry Mazany (at right in photo above), president of the Chicago Community Trust, to share how private funds supported sweeping school reforms in that city. The effort was based on a mantra of “shared responsibility,” he said.

Mazany oversaw the trust’s $50-million, five-year commitment to the Chicago public schools from 2002 to 2007. The effort aided a reform initiative led by then-CEO of Chicago Public Schools Arne Duncan, who’s now President Obama’s secretary of education. The reform effort nearly doubled testing scores in a school district that faces the same challenges of urban poverty: 85 percent of students in Chicago are poor enough to qualify for free or reduced school lunch, he said.

The partnership was deemed such a success that the Community Trust launched a second $50-million effort after the first one ended.

Mazany said the Community Trust helped aid the reforms by tackling the obstacles to schools’ success. The Chicago school system wanted to replicate school models that worked, but had trouble finding enough talented teachers and principals to do so. So the trust paid for training for teachers and principals, who then joined innovative programs within the district. The trust also spent millions on literacy programs to get young kids on track.

“We Can Do This”

Hoping for a similar effort in New Haven, Mayor John DeStefano, teacher union president Dave Cicarella, schools chief Reggie Mayo, and Assistant Superintendent Garth Harries teamed up to make a school reform pitch.

School officials didn’t make any specific requests from the potential donors in the crowd. The point of Tuesday’s meeting was to “share priorities,” to form a basis for potential partnerships, Harries said. He set the ambitious goal of closing the student achievement gap in six years.

“We can do this here,” declared Harries with pep-rally enthusiasm.

Harries, who’s 36, was hired in July to oversee the school reform drive. He said there’s a “convergence of interests” around vastly improving city schools. (Harries is pictured at right in photo above, with Stephen August at left and Bill Curran).

Ginsberg amplified his call to action: this is “a critical moment in the history of public education in our city,” he said.

Ginsberg said he’s been talking since the spring with city officials about DeStefano’s school reform drive. DeStefano gave the crowd a brief sketch of the district’s plans before heading off to a school board meeting.

The mayor and Harries visited a Community Foundation board meeting last month to talk about partnering in those goals. The board approved a resolution to “undertake our own student achievement initiative in support of and in collaboration and alignment with” the mayor’s plans.

Ginsberg hailed the mayor’s plans Tuesday.

“The Community Foundation stands squarely in support of Mayor DeStefano’s school reform goals,” Ginsberg said.

The foundation has already gotten involved: along with the Regional Leadership Council, it has raised private funds to bring in the New Teacher Project, a New York-based consultant that will help the city figure out how to attract and retain top teachers.

Tuesday, Ginsberg announced the foundation’s expanded role. He said the foundation will serve in three ways: as funders, as “an intermediary to attract national foundation support,” and as a means to foster public engagement in the initiative.

He didn’t say how much the foundation aims to raise, or where the money would go. Specific programs and dollar figures have not been discussed, Ginsberg said. As a general aim, the foundation plans to serve as a conduit for national groups or private donors who may choose to donate through the foundation instead of directly to the schools.

During a 35-minute Q & A session, the crowd peppered the speakers with questions about how the reform drive would work. Jay Brotman asked what exactly Ginsberg’s foundation is looking for.

What would $50 million translate to in New Haven?

Ginsberg replied that Chicago has 20 times more students, so $50 million in Chicago would translate to about $2.5 million here.

“That’s not an impossible number in this community,” he said. “I don’t think that’s a commitment that’s beyond the scale of New Haven.”

Accountability

Just as the school district plans to step up accountability for its teachers, principals and top staff, Ginsberg said the foundation plans to hold the district accountable for the private dollars it uses. For example, the New Teacher Project will report not only back to the school system but to the private funders, too. The foundation plans to evaluate the recommendations for themselves and act accordingly, Ginsberg said.

Funding the Promise program, whose price tag has not been named, is a large task that will rely on private funds. The program’s goal is to make sure every public school student can afford to go to college.

In a conversation after the event, Harries said the private sector could help by paying for teacher training, as was done in Chicago. He gave some other ideas: Fund literacy programs. Invest in support groups that encourage parental engagement. Pay for research to guide the initiative.

Private donors help in several ways, Harries said: They add resources, continuity, and accountability.

“All of these are important” to the school system, he said. Just as the school reform plans will ask teachers to “open their classrooms” to administrators brandishing new rubrics of accountability, the district will be held accountable by its private funders, too, he said.

In interviews, those in the crowd generally said they supported the mayor’s initiative.

“We’re all behind it,” said Bill Curran.

He said he has long supported Achievement First, the group that “led the way” to reforming education in New Haven. Many Achievement First board members were present Tuesday. DeStefano for a long time fought with the group, which founded groundbreaking charter schools like Amistad Academy. This year, the mayor announced he has made peace with his critics, and has met with them to try to replicate their success where possible.

“Achievement First is what started all of this,” said one man in the audience, who described himself as a long-time Achievement First and New Haven Public School Foundation funder.

“I wonder why [the mayor] finally got around to it,” the man said of the reforms. “But the important thing is, he’s doing it now.”

(Full disclosure: The Community Foundation For Greater New Haven funds the Online Journalism Project, which publishes this website.)

Some previous stories about New Haven’s school reform drive:

• Wanted: Great Teachers
• “Class of 2026” Gets Started
• Principal Keeps School On The Move
• With National Push, Reform Talks Advance
• Nice New School! Now Do Your Homework
• Mayo Unveils Discipline Plan
• Mayor Launches “School Change” Campaign
• Reform Drive Snags “New Teacher” Team
• Can He Work School Reform Magic?
• Some Parental Non-Involvement Is OK, Too
• Mayor: Close Failing Schools
• Union Chief: Don’t Blame The Teachers
• 3-Tiered School Reform Comes Into Focus
• At NAACP, Mayo Outlines School Reform
• Post Created To Bring In School Reform
• Board of Ed Assembles Legal Team

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Comments

Posted by: s | September 30, 2009 12:17 PM

I thought the "RICH" were the evil ones in this country! I guess we'll have to Change our thoughts on that one as well.

Posted by: streever | September 30, 2009 2:05 PM

Great attempt to put a national slant on this, but FYI, most billionaires support liberals & democrats--we don't mind them. It's the wanna-be noveau riche who oppose intellectualism, secularism, and charity, that most of us think are a problem.

I'm glad we got some donors for this--did we reach out to Higher One?

If not we should--they are a local firm focused on education and very succesful. Hard-working people & a focus on education, they may appreciate being invited to be part of this.

Posted by: vidar simpson | September 30, 2009 2:23 PM

�I wonder why [the mayor] finally got around to it,� the man said of the reforms." This is a no brainer. Follow the money: Yale, Amistad, Chicago, Arne Duncan, federal funding. The big question is what's the payback? Who gets the money? Which schools? Which kids?

Posted by: Dr. Sloper | September 30, 2009 2:25 PM

"It's the wanna-be noveau riche who oppose intellectualism, secularism, and charity, that most of us think are a problem."

Little mean spirited, Mr. Streever. I know a lot of older rich folk who oppose these same things. And really I'd hazard a guess that most of the "billionaires" you are talking about are all what the rich would call noveau rich.

Guilt will do loads to turn out the pocketbooks.

Posted by: THREEFIFTHS | September 30, 2009 4:52 PM

This is the real reason why Mr.Harries is here.
http://www.citylimits.org/content/articles/viewarticle.cfm?article_id=3749

And as far as the Philanthropists,There ony use this as a tax write off. Most of there kids are in Private schools.
http://www.isreview.org/issues/62/feat-charterschools.shtml

http://www.zmag.org/zspace/commentaries/429

Posted by: City Hall Watch | September 30, 2009 9:07 PM

At the peak of the mayor's campaign to denigrate the school reformers, there was a post on this site that said continuing the present course was sentencing at least 1500 kids per year to poverty because of drop outs, suspensions and just poor education that didn't prepare kids for any future.
Extrapolated across 16 years, that's 24,000 kids that have been thrown to the wolves. Like most people here, I'm glad the mayor has had an epiphany, but that number is shocking.

Posted by: hurtz | September 30, 2009 9:25 PM

This is such BS! School reform with the same players that have kept the schools in this perpetual state of under-acheivement, except now we have the miracle white guy to fix everyone Mayo couldn't. And somehow Mayo hasn't lost his job or "retired"? With a taxpayer-supported budget, and millions more on the way from Obama, explain to me again why we should contribute to this?

Posted by: streever | October 1, 2009 8:09 AM

Sorry Dr,

just razzing the guy who posted about national politics & obama on a story about our city improving it's school system

when you look at the systemic poverty & incredible division between poor & rich in New Haven, you can't really understand why someone would make the comment he made.

Let's just move on from that & be glad our city is addressing the underlying issue that plagues us--an awful educational system that has increased the poverty in this city.

It's really great that the Mayor & City Hall are committed to this reform. Ultimately it would be hard to support another candidate right now, with this iron in the fire.

Posted by: FIX THE SCHOOLS | October 1, 2009 8:34 AM

The # are shocking, CHW. But what's to be done about the past? In a way, WE are all to blame for not launching a credible alternative for mayor 5 or 10 years ago. But we are where we are, and right now this guy is better than 99% of the country's urban mayors on this issue.

And what's more, he is a STRONG mayor. He has substantial control over the BOE and you can already see that the tone has changed over there and they are following his lead. Could you imagine what would be happening (or not happening) with this reform plan if we had an elected board of ed.? This is why Bloomberg's first step 8 years ago was to wrestle control away from the political system and to take control himself. New York's progress couldn't have happened any other way.

Hurtz, all I can say is watch their progress - and hold them accountable. We should contribute to this because it is one of the most ambitious plans in the country. What you and others can do is to invest time, money, energy - and then don't sit back and be a passive investor. Make sure that they are using your resources wisely and that they stay on track. Call them out at BOE meetings if they fall off the plan. It's not going to be easy. The forces of the status quo are already working hard against this.

3/5, - wrong again.

Posted by: THREEFIFTHS | October 1, 2009 9:37 AM

Fix The Schools
What do lawyers know about running a educational
system.Harries and Klein were both give a waiver
to get the job due to the fact that there educational background was law.Bloomberg give me a break,He is the same corporatist that paid off some of the city council memebers to vote down term limits so he can run again. Bottom line this is about corporatist take over of the schools and this is happining across this country.
http://www.blackagendareport.com/?q=content/education-obamas-first-term-bushs-third

Posted by: Lee | October 1, 2009 1:05 PM

Anyone interested can follow New Haven School changes and help. Info here: http://www.nhps.net/scc/index

Posted by: The Count | October 1, 2009 1:05 PM

As Alfred E. Newman so well put it: "When a guy steals and gives all the money back, he's a reformed crook. When he steals and gives part of it back, he's a philanthropist."

Posted by: FIX THE SCHOOLS | October 1, 2009 1:41 PM

3/5 - Just take stock of what NYC public schools has accomplished since Bloomberg and Klein have run the show. Under these "corporatists", test scores of black and hispanic students have risen significantly.

Whatever you think of the relevance of standardized test scores in the education process, there is no disputing the fact that the higher a student scores on tests, the higher the liklihood that they will stay in school, go on to college, and escape a life of poverty. And you've got a problem with that?

As for lawyers running schools, I'm all for it.

:-)

Posted by: streever | October 1, 2009 3:27 PM

Fix the Schools: I agree!

As much as I've had reservations about one more term, I think the mayor is the guy to do this. I was seriously considering voting against him based on a strong recent trend of poo-pooing traffic calming and refusing to acknowledge that he had made promises to local activists to work on it.

His staff is working on it, even if he knocks the efforts when he speaks to reporters, so I'm willing to let that one go if it means the Mayor will put in the time to fix the school system.

Posted by: FIX THE SCHOOLS | October 1, 2009 4:30 PM

Streever, You'll get to have your cake - and eat it too! Why? Cuz smart people ride bikes!

Posted by: THREEFIFTHS | October 1, 2009 6:02 PM

Fix the schools
Check this out on Gloomberg.Test score gains pre date him and klein.How do you than explain this.

http://gothamschools.org/2009/03/13/report-test-score-gains-predate-bloomberg-and-mayoral-control/

Posted by: FIX THE SCHOOLS | October 1, 2009 10:23 PM

I enjoy your posts 3/5, but the problem is that you use some of the looniest sources and nut jobs to make your points. (Remember that radio guy you liked, who had all those rubber room teachers on his call-in program??)

So here's an idea: Instead of relying on some minor politcal hack's interpretation of the data, why not just read the latest report itself?

http://schools.nyc.gov/accountability/Reports/Data/TestResults/2009/ELA/2009_ELA_RELEASE_WEB_FINAL.pdf

Its rather difficult to look at this data and not give all the credit to this administration.

Posted by: THREEFIFTHS | October 2, 2009 12:26 AM

Fix the schools
First the rubber room does exist.Second what make these people nut jobs. There call as they see. Check there reports out and tell me if there are write by nut jobs.

http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/archives/2009/04/news_juan_gonza.php

http://credo.stanford.edu/reports/National_Release.pdf

And this happen under Gloomberg.
http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/education/2009/07/19/2009-07-19_charters_pawn_off_flunking_kids_ps_big_sez.html

Posted by: FIX THE SCHOOLS | October 2, 2009 11:58 AM

3/5,

Of course the rubber room is real. But the reason that it exists is because the school system cannot fire even the most incompetent teacher because of crazy union rules. So instead of leaving crappy teachers in front of children, he takes them out of the classroom, has to pay them full salary while their case goes through the system FOR YEARS, and puts them in the rubber room so that they can't hurt anyone anymore. At a cost of $100 million to taxpayers! This is luncacy. Read Steve Brill's article about it in the august new yorker and you will see the kinds of people who report to the rubber room every day.

Posted by: THREEFIFTHS | October 2, 2009 8:08 PM

Fix the schools
I did read Mr. Brills report on the rubber room.
Did you read the part that he said that the teachers in the rubber room are accused and have not been charged with any offense. The problem with the rubber room is that you have to wait for a hearing and that can take years. This is what these are saying. It took one teacher five years to get a hearing and when she got the hearing she beat the case and went back to her classroom. Her lawyer said the reason they paid these teachers to be in the rubber room is the most of them will beat there cases and this way the boe will not have tp give them back pay. so blame the BOE mot the teachers for the hearing hold up. Second did you read the stamford report on charter schools.
Did you read the report on how the husler Al Sharpton got paid 500k to push this so call school program. Check it out.

http://www.blackagendareport.com/?q=content/send-clowns-3-stooges-gingrich-sharpton-duncan-hit-road-corporate-%E2%80%9Cschool-reform%E2%80%9D

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2009/04/01/2009-04-01_rev_al_sharptons_500g_link_to_education_.html

And these two reporters are far from nut jobs.

Posted by: James | October 3, 2009 8:20 PM

THREEFIFTHS

Wouldn't you send your kids to a private school if you could afford it? I know I sure as hell would. Sending my kids to New Haven's crappy schools is a matter of economics, not some self-serving sense of solidarity. What kinds of an idiot would voluntarily provide their children with an inferior eduction?

Posted by: THREEFIFTHS | October 4, 2009 10:59 AM

james
I wouldn't send my son to private school,Due to the fact that there are good pubilc schools.My son went to Hill Regional Career High School and he did very well.In fact us news list career as ont of the best high schools http://www.usnews.com/listings/high-schools/connecticut/hill_regional_career_high_school
Are there bad public schools yes,But there is bad private schools. I have a daughter in new york who went to public school and than went on to Jillard and she is now in to acting and writing.
So for me I surport pubilc schools.Not corporate take over.Read the above reports in my post.

Posted by: Tom Burns | October 14, 2009 3:54 AM

3/5ths you are a legend--the other posters mustn't know that the last golden egg for business is education---the commercial world is doing a great job with healthcare and we know how well they did in the financial sector--so why don't we let them get their greedy hands on the education sector so they can mess that up too--we have the best system in the world--who says every kid should go to college? who will change the tires on the car of the surgeon who will save your son's life? All occupations are respected and should be---but some people are smarter than others and some are prettier some more athletic and so on----Thats all, Tom

Philanthropists Join School Reform Drive

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