Creg Williams, St. Louis Public Schools newly hired superintendent, looked six board of education members in their respective eyes last Friday and defiantly challenged an inquiry concerning his age and experience level and whether they should be a factor in his bid to lead the district.
“I am superintendent for 60,000 children,” the School District of Philadelphia deputy chief academic officer said proudly when Vince Schoemehl asked about his “inexperience.”
I know I can run this district, I am the person in charge of high schools in the (Philadelphia) district. I may not have the title, but the responsibility is there,” Williams said.
“Either you can come in and do a great job or not. I know I can do a great job.”
By a unanimous 7-0 vote, the school board offered Williams the job, and he is currently negotiating a contract. He hopes to take the SLPS helm in early April.
The in-fighting and political maneuvering that have been part of the SLPS atmosphere for decades apparently do not frighten the 44-year-old Williams.
“To not believe this is a political job would be a mistake. Politics is involved in everything we do in life. But our role is first and foremost about the children. Everything we do must be on the behest of students. I’m not deterred in the least by what has happened here in the past.”
In both Chicago, where he was a key administrator, and Philadelphia the mayor appoints board members.
“But each individual still had their own personal interests and agenda. I will learn how to deal with each board member on an individual basis, and we will establish a relationship that will make us a team,” he said.
To hasten that team performance, Williams said he would insist that he and the SLPS board receive training by professionals on the best ways to interact with one another “and how to best present ourselves to the public.”
Williams said the superintendent “should be the face of public schools and should interact with the media. We need a clear, strategic plan, and then we need to market this school district.”
Williams said the SLPS curriculum is not consistent and “aligned,” adding that the best teachers might not have ongoing success with students “if the curriculum falls short.”
He said during a one-day visit to several schools he observed a reading program being used incorrectly and noted that there “are too many special education classes.”
“This is a major concern,” he said.
SLPS board member Ron Jackson, chairman of the superintendent search committee, said a visit to Blewitt Middle School with Williams made quite an impression.
“He visited every class. He took notes. He listened,” Jackson said.
“He later talked with the principal and staff members and gave them specific suggestions on issues they shared with him. It is clear that he understands schools and what needs to happen inside of them.”
Jackson said the new superintendent “demonstrates all of the qualities that we are looking for to lead our district toward accreditation and becoming the great school district we know that it can be.”
Williams has served as the deputy chief academic officer of the School District of Philadelphia since 2002. The district serves nearly 215,000 students, has 11,000 teachers, and has an annual budget of more than $1.6 billion.
Williams was responsible for 58 high schools, 52 charter schools and a budget in excess of $500 million. Lynn Spampinato, SLPS academic chief, served in Philadelphia during Williams’ tenure in a job where she directed charter school education.
In addition to school staffs, more than 100 people report to him.
In 2002, he launched a five-year strategic plan for high schools. Within two years, the number of high schools reaching Adequate Yearly Progress according to criteria set by No Child Left Behind went from seven in 2002-2003 to 16 in 2003-2004.
This achievement came about from the development of a rigorous standardized curriculum aligned to Pennsylvania State standards for English, math, science and social studies for grades 9-12. He led the alignment of all high school courses with state standards and the creation of a test-preparation program to prepare students for the state standardized assessments.
Eleventh grade test scores dipped slightly from 2002 to 2004. However, in 9th and 10th grades n where most of his reforms were focused n scores improved substantially. The percentage of 9th graders at or above the national average improved 13.4 percent, while the percentage of students in bottom quartile was reduced by 19.5 percent. The percentage of 10th graders reading at or above grade level went up 3.7 percent, while the percentage in the bottom quartile went down by 7.6 percent.
There were similar improvements for 9th and 10th graders in math and science; the biggest improvements of all were in language arts.
Teachers Union Local 420 President Mary Armstrong told the Post-Dispatch she was not impressed with William’s experience, citing the fact he has not been a superintendent.
However, he is quite experienced in the process that Armstrong, SLPS teachers and the school district just survived. In Philadelphia, he served as management’s lead negotiator during labor talks with the teachers’ union and “played the key role in listening to teachers’ concerns and in helping the union adopt collaborative attitude working with the school administration.”
Schoemehl said that some see his inexperience as a weakness “I see it as strength.”
“While Creg has been trained by the best and while he has had very expansive responsibilities he’s never been the superintendent. But he’s energetic and he’ll be extremely motivated to make St. Louis a screaming success story. Given our continuing budget challenges the troubles at SLPS are a long way from over and I was influenced by the fact that Creg will be highly motivated to make this work.
Schoemehl said Williams knows “the methodologies necessary to effect academic improvement and I am hopeful that many of the curriculum and organizational changes we have implemented over the past 21 months will fit with his program.”
He called Williams a “great spokesperson” who knows the material and he knows his message and he seems capable of communicating in sound bites that have content; an important skill for this position.
Jackson said that Williams shared his life story n he “comes from a humble background” in Chicago n with the board.
“He raised himself through the ranks. It has been a struggle to get where he is,” Jackson said.
Williams received an Ed.D in educational administration from Roosevelt University in 1996, a M.A. in education from the same university in 1990 and a B.A. in applied behavioral science from National Louis University in 1987.
While he was a principal in Chicago, one of his staff members wanted to plant trees in front of the school at which they served. They sought his permission, and he sent back the suggestion, “Let’s not only plant trees in front of the school, let’s plant trees throughout the entire community.”
That action caught the eye of several members of higher administration in Chicago Public Schools, and he was later named to be one of its academic reform leaders. Marked improvement in academic performance followed.
When asked what people will be saying about him in five years, Williams calmly told six board members, “That Creg Williams and the board of education made this district a leader in school reform.”
“We would be the learning lab for other school districts. That’s the vision I had in Philadelphia and I plan to bring that same vision to this district.
“I will be the role model. I will be the man.”
This is exactly what the SLPS board, parents, teachers and staff are hoping and praying for.
