As CPS prepares to close a record number of schools, the fate of students and communities is in question.
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Payne, Mazany to plot course for Chicago schools
For the first time in almost a year, Chicago schools have a chief education officer.
For the first time in almost a year, Chicago schools have a chief education officer.
Friday morning, Interim CEO Terry Mazany named Charles Payne, the highly regarded expert on urban education policy and a University of Chicago professor, as an interim replacement for 35-year CPS veteran Barbara Eason-Watkins, who left the district in late April 2010.
It is also the first time in recent memory that the district’s top two positions have both been filled by educators, which grassroots activists and parents have clamored for. But it’s not likely to last long: Payne says he is definitely leaving after a new CEO is appointed by the next mayor.
Mazany said that when Mayor Richard M. Daley leaves office on May 16, “our job is to provide wind behind the sails of that leadership transition.”
Foremost on the pair’s agenda: Writing an “educational plan” for the city – something Payne says the city has not had in eight years – that will guide decisions until a new CEO can get up to speed.
It was one of several points during a press conference at Fiske Elementary in Woodlawn, where Payne seemed critical of the current state of affairs in CPS.
“The mistake of the city... has been to focus on programs in schools, rather than just focusing on the schools as organizations,” Payne said, noting that he had made the same mistake at times as well.
To that end, Payne said, CPS must also pay more attention to developing and working with principals. “The city has no consistent philosophy, no consistent plan, for how we are going to develop the principal leadership that we need,” he said.
It’s not clear yet what specific steps Payne plans to take to assist principals, but he said the district should take “administrivia” off their plates so they can spend more time watching teachers in the classroom.
“There is no evaluation going on,” he said, referencing the fact that the vast majority of teachers get very high ratings. “It has to do with the lack of confidence among principals” about their ability to evaluate teachers.
Payne also signaled the possibility of new approaches in the area of early-childhood education. “The city has not thought about early childhood education in a systematic way. It hasn’t thought about the really terrible attendance problems in our early grades [or] about how different neighborhoods need different kinds of early childhood supports,” he said.
Perhaps more important than any policy changes Payne and Mazany come up with will be how the district goes about making its decisions. Payne said he would focus on starting “a conversation among stakeholders who do not normally talk to each other” and on getting community organizations, which he called “an under-utilized resource,” to participate in the school reform conversation. His model: Former Mayor Harold Washington’s 1987 education summit.
The press conference also highlighted Payne’s work coaching principals and organizing programs with the Woodlawn Children’s Promise Community, an initiative modeled on the Harlem Children’s Zone.
“You have got to develop the community itself,” Payne said. “Part of our work is building a core of parents who are going to be more involved.” In his book So Much Reform, So Little Change, Payne wrote about the persistence of failure in urban school districts, noting that discussions of education policy are often disconnected from the daily realities of urban schools and fail to account for the lack of social capital to assist schools in poor communities.
Payne is the Frank P. Hixon Distinguished Service Professor in the School of Social Service Administration at the U of C. He was previously on the faculty at Duke and Northwestern universities and is the author of several books. (Payne is also a former member of the editorial board of Catalyst Chicago.)
Mazany said that revamping teacher evaluations and laying plans to implement the Common Core Curriculum would also be top priorities.
He considered appointing a CPS insider to the interim chief education officer position, but realized that making such an appointment might not be good for the appointee.
“What Terry didn’t tell you was that I was the sixty-fifth person he asked,” Payne joked.
Charles Payne to be named chief education officer
Ron Huberman, former CEO for the Chicago Public Schools has recently found employment in two Chicago-based private equity firms searching for investments and buyout opportunities in the fields of security, transportation, and EDUCATION! Do I hear, Chicago lobbyist?
Charles Payne to be named chief education officer
Imagine the insider info he gives them, esp from his team/insiders at 911-CTA-CPS.
Charles Payne to be named chief education officer
employing a person-office to make sure this happens, esp. with partner schools they take money from. Highly unlikely that this prof would not have had some influence on the creation and sustaining of UC charters. (Arne shares the same major.) UC has had long term influence on CPS and look where CPS is, esp so on Arne and BEW. A clear example-they let Arne devastate vocational ed and then write in their study on how it increased the drop out rate. UC influenced BEW to make schools to yet again, use a whole other SIP plan and format, only to change it, making it longer, complicated and provide little training, when the original SIP was real, measurable and all schools were trained for it.
And as for taint - Any school CPS closes/d taints its teachers, principals and students-even if the school was doing well or showing improvement.
Payne, Mazany to plot course for Chicago schools
I recently read Mr. Payne's book, "So Much Reform, So Little Change." It is a fantastic and very realistic look at why so many well meaning reform efforts fail. Payne really "gets it" it terms of what it's like to teach in CPS. Now, if they'd just bring in Dianne Ravitch as a consultant we'd be on our way to a system that puts student learning first.
I look forward to the contribution Mr. Payne will make to the CPS culture. He does understand the ways that program churn and initiative overload keep teachers from enacting even good policies. He also understands that it takes time and creativity to fix problems which took decades or longer to create.
I hope that this meaningful addition to the leadership of CPS will really make a difference in overall policy, and that Mr. Payne has the power he needs to re-form the educational direction of the district. As a CPS teacher who has seen good policies fail and bad policies linger... all to the detriment of our students... I am cautiously optimistic about this appointment.
Payne, Mazany to plot course for Chicago schools
He was part of Group 88 and probably will bne part of Rahm's team.
Payne, Mazany to plot course for Chicago schools
"He was part of Group 88"
Sigh. This is troubling for me.
Payne is one of those left-wing kooks so obsessed with race/class/gender that reason and decency fail him when presented with an opportunity to bash the very student population that has provided the means to his livelihood for the past twenty years.
Shame on Charles Payne. Let's hope he's around for no longer than the three months until a new mayor appoints a better person to the position.
Payne, Mazany to plot course for Chicago schools
about UC quietly pawning off 12 percent of the low-performing/ disruptive students to neighborhood schools and then comparing test results? Dig below the surface of any successful charter school and you find the same equation: lottery in the children of parents who care enough to apply, and quietly remove those who can't keep up.
Payne, Mazany to plot course for Chicago schools
Personally, I prefer neighborhood schools over Charters but to be fair we need to admit that CPS also uses Charters as receiving schools for NCLB. There is currently a long list of Charters that are currently "Receiving Schools" for students that are failing in regular CPS schools. What is also coming down the pipes is "Alternative Charter Schools". I believe Chicago was approved for five of them. Then CPS will be able to shed problem children from regular CPS schools into Charters.
Payne, Mazany to plot course for Chicago schools
"Dig below the surface of any successful charter school and you find the same equation: lottery in the children of parents who care enough to apply, and quietly remove those who can't keep up."
I work for CICS Northtown Academy. It is one of the best Charters in Chicago. I would say it is the best of the Charters, but the word best is ambiguous and I would prefer to not get into an argument on what determines "best". I can assure you that ALL charters have parents who care enough to apply so that is hardly part of an equation for success considering there are Charters that do not do well despite parents applying.
I can also assure you that we do not quietly remove students who "can't keep up". Expulsion rates are very low and we do not pressure parents to withdraw their students. We do actively contact parents in the attempt to help our students succeed. If little Jimmy is failing because he isn't doing his homework and is sleeping in class, the teachers and deans make phone calls and send emails to alert the parents to the situation. We actively strive to have the parents support their child's education (check the student's agenda each night for homework, track progress and missing assignments on PowerSchool, set up times for the student to come in for tutoring each week, etc.). While we do lose students, it is typically because the student has pressured the parent into leaving because the student wants to be with his/her friends at the neighborhood school.
Our school is successful because we typically receive good parental support from home and the teachers are incredibly dedicated and driven. The school has a uniqueness that allowed the curriculum to be developed by the teachers instead of an outside "expert". The teachers are very involved in the curriculum and teaching process. I'm not saying the school is flawless, but we aren't successful because we are secretly kicking kids out. We work our butts off with students and that is why we are successful.
So please, refrain from painting all successful charters with the same wide brush.
Payne, Mazany to plot course for Chicago schools
Thank you for the honesty here. Can you tell us how your communication with parents is different from what those of us who work in traditional schools do? I have also heard - and I defer to you on this, that discipline issues are quickly responded to and classroom teachers can spend much more of their time teaching. Do you have extended/block scheduling? Is there a lot of test prep?
Payne, Mazany to plot course for Chicago schools
what becomes of the "Woodlawn Promise Community" program? It was my understanding that the Ford Foundation had donated 300 million after UC/Dr. Payne lost the Promise Zone bid.
Payne, Mazany to plot course for Chicago schools
Is Payne the UC prof who espoused less successful high schools students be paid NOT to go to school?
Payne, Mazany to plot course for Chicago schools
"Can you tell us how your communication with parents is different from what those of us who work in traditional schools do?"
Having not worked at a traditional CPS school, I cannot make a fair comparison. I do know that many of the teachers I work with (myself included) do a regular sweep of phone calls or emails home once a week. Personally I call/email all of the students who are not paying attention in class that week, then follow it up the next week to let the parents know how things are going. There are a lot of calls home regarding behavior in class (sleeping, talking, disruption, whatever the case may be) and missing assignments. I would say the majority of the experienced teachers are pretty on top of things.
"I have also heard - and I defer to you on this, that discipline issues are quickly responded to and classroom teachers can spend much more of their time teaching."
At my school we have incredibly supportive deans. For the most part, discipline isn't a major problem, but when a student is past the point of being reasonable, our deans will take over. Sometimes a more challenging student who normally responds to a reminder to get it together will have a bad day. If I have to send a student out (rarely) I try to touch base the next day and make sure we are still on good terms. I've never had a student hold it against me, they can usually admit that they weren't themselves or that they understand they crossed the line. I would say that our staff is pretty honest and upfront with the students and they respond to that.
"Do you have extended/block scheduling? Is there a lot of test prep?"
We have a modified block schedule. Instead of a standard 8 period day or 4 period block, we have 6 out of 8 periods a day and on Wednesdays we see all 8 periods (each class is seen 3 times a week for 60 minutes and once a week for 28 minutes). Test prep is part of the students' grades, but teachers have flexibility in that area. Most of my test prep is structured around critical thinking and discussion. If I merely handed the kids a practice test, they wouldn't be learning anything. I make the students defend their answer choices, debate each other, reread and pick apart the questions, etc.
Payne, Mazany to plot course for Chicago schools
"CPS must also pay more attention to developing and working with principals. “The city has no consistent philosophy, no consistent plan, for how we are going to develop the principal leadership that we need,†he said." How many programs, how much money, how much human capital already been spent on recruiting, training, and working with principals over the past 20+ years. Tons! It seems we need to do more according to Mr. Payne (Huh!) How have teachers been affected during this same time? They have been threatened, fired, reconstituted, reassessed, marginalized. Their union has lost much of its standing with the membership and CPS. Any benefits have slowly been eroded. Where is the disconnect?
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