# 56: Transformation Plan Approved

QUOLKE’S CORNER #56

 

Last night, the Cleveland Board of Education passed the Transformation Plan. This plan, which took almost a year to develop, was initially unveiled on January 5, 2010. In the two months since the plan was introduced, I had hoped that the questions and concerns that were raised would have been addressed, but unfortunately as more information about the plan comes out – the more questions that are raised. 

 

With regard to schools that are in the Repurpose category, the CTU and the District have VERY DIFFERENT interpretations of the contract and past arbitration awards. We will not be sitting idly by if the District attempts to implement this plan in violation of our contract.   We will utilize all of our options to insure that our CBA is honored. Our very capable attorney - Susannah Muskovitz - and the CTU are poised for this battle.

 

That said my bigger hope is that the realization is made that educators are not the enemy. My hope is that those that have endorsed the plan realize that more will need to be done than simply closing buildings and blaming adults. Blame games DO NOT raise academic achievement. I was buoyed by some of the comments made by the Board members just prior to last night’s vote. More than one Board member told the administration that they must collaborate with us (as they pointed to the educators, parents, and students in the audience). I was stopped by City Council members, community, and civic leaders after the meeting who also view the need for CMSD and CTU collaboration as important to the success of this plan. Hopefully this will not continue to fall on deaf ears. 

 

Thanks to everyone that attended the Board Meeting last night. Over 60 schools were represented by teachers, paraprofessionals, and related service providers and that is from the people that I saw. Your presence once again sends a strong message the Board and Administration.

 

What follows is the speech that I made at the Board Meeting last night and after that is a link to the Transformation Plan article that appeared in the Plain Dealer this morning. 

 

In Union,

 

David

 

 

Hello my name is David Quolke and I am the President of the Cleveland Teachers Union, the organization that represents the nearly 5000 educators that work with our students in our schools each and every day.

 

Tonight in all likelihood the Board will pass some form of the Transformation Plan.

 

The Cleveland Teachers Union supports new and innovative approaches to school reform that will lead to long term sustainable positive changes and outcomes for students and the community. The CTU believes that working together, the union, the school district, the students, parents and community can transform Cleveland Public Schools to meet the challenges facing Cleveland’s children.

 

Top-down approaches to large-scale reform are never successful. It is a disservice to the children and families of Cleveland to have excluded the parents, teachers, principals, and the community from the district’s transformation plan.

 

 

When I spoke last month I indicated the CTU had just begun meeting with the District’s Transformation Committee. I also mentioned that as the CTU received more details, more questions and concerns arose.

 

There are many obstacles that lay in the path of this transformation’s success. One obstacle is the capacity of the district to successfully undergo such large scale change within the accelerated, arbitrary timeline that has been established for implementation. In the closed buildings alone over 4000 students and 124 special education units and 500+ educators must be reassigned. Yes, I did say that 124 individual units of special education students must be reassigned to existing buildings. And while the Union and the district strongly disagree on repurposed schools, the district is putting on the table the possibility of forcing an additional 800 educators to reapply for their positions. What the district calls repurpose – I call reconstitution.

 

 

Another obstacle is the lack of substantive planning to implement real reforms. School leadership teams like those that have been so successful in our TurnAround Schools include educators, parents, and administrators working closely together to ensure there are genuine supports for newly adopted curriculum and strategies are a critical element to successful school reform and are missing from the transformation plan.

 

An additional obstacle was the exclusion of parents from the plan. Parents and students need an adequate orientation to their new school, up-to-date information on new transportation schedules, and an opportunity to meet with school administrators and teachers.

 

While there are other obstacles, I do want to take time to talk about the CTU proposed solutions. The CTU proposes that beginning today

undertake a planning process that genuinely involves CTU, parent and community representatives along with school leadership teams. Deliberate and collaborative planning that addresses root problems and offers real solutions with stakeholder buy-in is essential

 

Establish community service centers within underutilized schools that support at-risk youth, their families, and the local community. This is the type of reform that strengthens the bonds between public schools and the communities they serve.

 

Use a collaborative approach to improve teacher quality and student achievement by establishing a citywide Teaching and Learning Center an effort supported by our national affiliate the American Federation of Teachers, and finally

 

Establish a structure and process for feedback that supports organizational learning. It is critical to take the time to assess what has worked and what has not worked. Learning from those experiences will strengthen long-term positive outcomes for our communities.

 

None of this work is easy and the CTU has always been willing to embrace reform for the benefit of our students and community. In January the American Federation of Teachers launched a campaign entitled “A New Path Forward”. Tonight when you vote on the transformation plan we hope that you will use this opportunity to create a new path forward with the CTU, the parents, and the community. As AFT President Randi Weingarten put it “Collaboration, not conflict, is in the best interest of parents, students, and teachers.”

 

 

Link to Plain Dealer transformation article: