Looking for your thoughts regarding Rochelle Riley's 8/14 sobering article about the Detroit Public Schools

Jamie Morgan
President at The JM Show--LION--MyLinkNetwork.com--jjmorgan13@gmail.com http://www.thejmshow.com/

Looking for your thoughts regarding Rochelle Riley's 8/14 sobering article about the Detroit Public Schools
Check it out at freep.com or on our blog at http://www.thejmshow.com/

Steve Durkee
Market Strategist/Analyst/Executive Coach

Negative Parental Viewpoint (lost hope) - “Of course. the best recruitment tool is to improve the schools, which won't happen. It will not happen. It will not happen.”

Non-Receptive to Outside Input - Counselor Statement – "We don't do that here." In reference with trying to setup a teacher conference.

Low Teacher Expectations - "She shows up every day,” In reference to student academic progress.

Lack of Parental Involvement - "I'm sorry, but I don't get questions very often from parents." In reference to parent and teacher conference.

Poor District Oversight (outsiders perspective) - “…included no discussion of academic progress, no updates on reading scores or math scores or class size...I heard the superintendent say that only 60% of the textbooks that the children need for the first day of school have been delivered. The other 40% are being held hostage by a vendor who says that Detroit's payment record is so bad, the district has to pay for two years worth of books to get this year's.”

Top Heavy/No Consensus – “I heard bickering and back and forth that will always be in the way of progress.”

Stray from Basic Principles –Every school will have physical education. Every school will have tutors. Every school will have social workers, because, God, are they needed in Detroit."

It is important to realize that these are outputs of a systemic process, and cannot be changed without accounting for all the variables that contribute to them. One of the things I found most interesting in reviewing DPS was they had an office for every concern that this parent brought up.

Sad, very sad - When you go onto the parental involvement calendar on the DPS district site you see a blank page, with just headings and a calendar from the 2004/2005 school year. Maybe they have just given up? When you dive deeper into their challenges you uncover the root of the frustration.

According to a study by the Brookings Institution, children “…make up a greater proportion of the population in Detroit (31 percent) than in any other Living City. Most of the city's children live in single-parent households; more than a fifth of the city's households are non-married families with children, but only one-eighth are married couples with children.”

However, complacency is not the answer, the public needs to ask where is the accountability at a district level? Maybe outsourcing accountability, and analysis like the one my firm offers could give more resources back. Is it really worth hiring someone who is late career, a PhD after their name, a lot of past accomplishments that look good in press releases; or is it better to hire someone who is passionate about change and has the skills and the energy to move us forward?

Until Americans understand the difference and stop settling for mediocrity, we will continue to feel the backlash of our complacency. This has resonated not only through our public schools but through the overall American economy. I think it is important to note that these are tough times across the country; we have seen a troubling trend of graduation rates falling to unheard of levels in recent times and crime continues to increase. We just continue to create more oversight and look for means of promoting small improvements, rather than give the resources to those that can make a difference.

My vision: give and keep a long-term focus, make resources readily accessible, assess specific needs and put in adaptable processes that can be easily modified to meet changing populations. As simple as it sounds, many of the consulting jobs I have had in the last 3 years ignore all three. There is a focus on small variables that contribute to short-term gains and long-term failure, resources that are planned and then strictly controlled (not reaching those that need them in time), and processes that are tightly held by those in control because they fail to adapt themselves.