Public Education Network Annual Conference November 13, 2006 10 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.

1. Engaging Cities:What Municipal Leaders Are Doing To Mobilize Communities to Improve Public Schools Public Education Network Annual Conference November 13, 2006 10 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.

2. Engaging Cities Session Information • Panelists: • Michael Grady, Deputy Director, Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University • Norm Fruchter, Director, Community Involvement Program, Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University • Maria Guajardo, Executive Director, Mayor’s Office of Education and Children, Denver, Colorado • To download the report Engaging Cities: http://www.annenberginstitute.org/publications/NLC_engaging.html • To order a print copy: Please email aisrpubs@brown.edu

3. Objectives for Today’s Discussion • Describe purpose of Engaging Cities project • Highlight featured cities with special focus on Denver (Maria) and New York (Norm) stories • Share cross-city themes • Audience Q&A, Discussion

4. The Engaging Cities Project: Profiles in Municipal Leadership for Quality Schools • Why We Did It • To document a range of approaches to mobilization led by mayors and municipal leaders • To identify “high-impact” strategies for municipal leadership in education • To disseminate new knowledge and resources to leadership networks and other cities

5. The Engaging Cities Project: Profiles in Municipal Leadership for Quality Schools Study Features • Case study method • Five cities: Akron, Denver, Long Beach, Nashville, New York City (Bronx) • Consultative selection process • Data sources: official records, national reports, newspaper archives, site visits, interviews

6. Civic Capacity as Basis for Engaging Cities • “Civic capacity concerns the extent to which different sectors of the community --- business, parents, educators, state and local officeholders, nonprofits, and others – act in concert around a matter of community-wide import.” Clarence Stone, “Civic Capacity and Urban Education” (2003)

7. Attributes of Cities with Strong Civic Capacity Capacity to mobilize diverse groups and resources in a sustained effort to meet a major common challenge • Existence of a permanent institutional home with strong professional staff • Broad-based membership with deep taproots in communities • Series of ongoing activities designed to deepen, widen and sustain civic capacity • Operates on a public stage

8. Akron: Partnership to Rebuild the City School • Ohio Schools Facilities Commission • Mayor Plusquellic’s backing of Issue 10: Local income tax to fund “community learning centers” generated $800 million • Imagine Akron Community Learning Centers: Community-wide planning process • Joint-use agreements between schools, city, community agencies • Potential for new delivery system for city services I am hopeful that by opening the doors to the public and inviting them in, there will be a sense that we must all take responsibility for educating our children. Mayor Don Plusquellic

9. Long Beach:A Seamless System of K-16 Education • Long Beach Education Partnership: Mayor O’Neill as architect and champion • Involves city’s three largest educational institutions • Aim: To ensure smooth transition from K-12 to Community College and Cal State-Long Beach • Alignment of curriculum, assessment, and expectations • Partnership also focused on teacher education This city is proud of its schools. They know you can go from kindergarten through a master’s degree in the same city, and they are all outstanding institutions. Former Mayor Beverly O’Neill

10. Nashville:Restoring Public Confidence and Support for the Schools • Mayor Purcell started a campaign of increasing public confidence and participation in schools • Engaged over time a broad array of constituency groups: parents, community, business, government • Increased public investment: 25% in operating budget and $165 million in capital funds • Return: Strong achievement gains in 2005 Education is the most important thing we do and it always will be the most important thing we do. This will never change, in this city or any other city that wants to be successful. Mayor Bill Purcell

11. Denver:A Strategy to Increase Latino Academic Achievement • Crisis in Latino achievement • Mayor convenes Summit on Latino Achievement • 100-day follow-up with concrete strategies and new partnerships • Summit and follow-up created sense of urgency; convinced partners they could make a difference It makes everyone’s work harder to have so many people involved but in the end you end up with a far superior product than a city agency could come up with by itself. Mayor John Hickenlooper

12. The Bronx, NY:Developing Community Leadership for Education Reform • Community Collaborative to Improve Bronx Schools (CCB): Community-led effort of parents, community members, CBOs • Engaged NYC Department of Education and UFT to design Lead Teacher Program • Lead Teacher Program: Goal is to enhance teacher retention and improve instruction in District 9 schools • Mayor’s Role: System reorganization reduced bureaucratic barriers to innovations like Lead Teacher Mutual blame shifted to mutual support; … everyone was at a place where they were ready to listen, help, support and change. Eric Zachary, Coordinator of CC9/Community Involvement Program

13. The Bronx, NY: Placeholder for Norm

14. The Bronx, NY: Placeholder for Norm

15. Cross-City Themes:What Municipal Leaders Are Doing to Mobilize Communities for Quality Education • Mayors convened cross-sector leadership collaboratives • Projects used data and evidence to mobilize and to inform • Goals of project sharply focused on student learning and success • Community and civic partners had authority to plan and lead work