Guest Columnists Ruth Ehresman and Lora Gulley
All eyes are on the future of the St. Louis Public Schools as the appointed Transitional Board formulates its plans. Involving parents, citizens and community stakeholders on an ongoing basis will be critical if meaningful reform and improvement is to take place in the SLPS.
Over the past year, the St. Louis Metropolitan Children’s Agenda has been laying the groundwork for building such a citizen voice. Through the community forum series A Public Dialogue on Public Education, stakeholders representing widely diverse viewpoints have joined in constructive dialogue to discuss critical issues facing the City’s public schools. Now that group is exploring the establishment of a more permanent vehicle to engage the community – a public education coalition.
A public education coalition of some type is in place in 18 of the nation’s 20 largest metropolitan areas, including Atlanta, Chicago and Boston, which have achieved improvements in their urban school systems. St. Louis is one of the two exceptions, with no public education coalition.
The coalitions work both to monitor and to support the schools. They are independent of the schools yet also cooperate with the school leadership. These coalitions provide a structured process through which all interested stakeholders can jointly address critical school issues.
Functions of public education coalitions include:
? Engaging all sectors of the community in school improvement efforts;
? Raising public awareness of the critical importance of quality public schools;
? Monitoring the schools and ensuring the community has the data and information needed to evaluate school performance;
? Developing and implementing specific strategies for school reform; and
? Working to ensure that the schools have adequate resources to be successful.
The momentum now to form a public education coalition in St. Louis began last fall and winter when the Children’s Agenda held eight community forums addressing critical issues facing the SLPS. These forums attracted over 600 participants, representing a wide variety of perspectives. Teachers, parents, students and school administration, as well as government, funders, businesses and community organizations, participated. They were impressed by the civil and constructive dialogue that occurred in these sessions and called for an ongoing forum and process through which joint dialogue could continue.
Cooperation has extended beyond the forums. Representatives have worked together on a 14-member Steering Committee, which meets every two weeks. It is the Steering Committee that now is shepherding the public education coalition effort.
Currently, we are in the process of introducing the concept of a local public education coalition to leaders throughout the community, and soliciting their thoughts and suggestions as to how such a coalition can be structured most effectively to meet the needs of St. Louis. Your ideas are welcome; please visit www.visionforchildren.org.
Members of our community hold widely divergent opinions about what needs to be done to improve the schools. All sides are passionate in their beliefs. We all agree, however, on the importance of providing a quality education for all children.
Providing a quality education for all students and, thereby, improving the overall quality of community life requires that all segments of the community work jointly. However the school district is governed, a public education coalition can facilitate broad-based community engagement in and ownership of the schools. In other cities, this has proven to be the lifeblood of a successful school system.
We welcome the participation of all interested parties as we shape this citizen voice for St. Louis public education. As we start a new school year, this is an ideal time to make a commitment. We – as a community – must action to make sure that all young people in St. Louis have access to a quality public education.
By Ruth Ehresman and Lora Gulley are co-chairs of St. Louis Metropolitan Children’s Agenda.