Two thousand parents, teachers, and students appeared at a public meeting this week to protest a proposal by New York City school officials to close 19 struggling schools.
That’s as clear an example as any of why school reform is so tough.
Every year, national polls reveal the same reality: People like their local school, yet they think that other schools aren’t doing well. Many say low-performing schools need to be closed.
Just not their school. If someone’s school is having problems, it’s assumed that the school can be turned around with enough love and attention. Rarely will you find a school community who thinks their school should suffer the ultimate sanction.
I understand that reaction. It’s human nature to be loyal to the familiar. And schools are an important part of any community.
So the scene that unfolded at Brooklyn Tech High School is no surprise. There, amongst the crowd, “some pleaded, some jeered. Some rationally cited statistics, while others flew off the handle . . . as members cast their votes, the crowd shouted, Shame on you!’”
Such outrage, as described by the New York Post, will be familiar to school officials in numerous urban school systems that have closed schools because of budget deficits, declining enrollments, or plain-and-simple poor performance.
But I don’t share this story because New York City officials had a tough day. Nor do I have an opinion about whether officials made the right decision.
No, what I find telling is the emotional intensity surrounding the decisionand what it says about the obstacles that local school officials face when trying to bring about school reform.
How can school boards meet the expectations of the public for better schools when they are criticized for taking strong action against struggling schools?
How can school boards boost student achievement when parents resist a longer school year because it’ll interfere with family vacations?
How can school boards help its lowest-achieving students when people don’t want to extend the school day because it’ll interfere with sports or extracurricular activities?
How can school boards weather damaging budget losses when the public will support fund-raisers to prop up the high school football programbut not even think to raise money to save afterschool tutoring?
If there are any lessons to be learned, I think they’re pretty basic: School leaders must stand firm when they think they’re right. But they also need to work very hard to articulate their vision of their community schools and why they make the decisions they do.
That won’t make school closings any less controversial. But if, for every person who loudly protests a decision, another 100 quietly support the decision, then school leaders are doing their job.
Del Stover, Senior Editor
