City Leaders Mobilize Communities to Improve Public Schools

by Michael Grady, Robert Rothman, Hal Smith and Margaret Balch-Gonzalez

A recent study of five cities by the Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University, in cooperation with NLC?s Institute for Youth, Education, and Families and NLC?s Education Policy Advisors Network, focused on mayors who are responding to the challenge of improving local public schools by seeking new and more effective ways to engage key segments of their communities.

The mayors of the cities covered in the study?s report, ?Engaging Cities: How Municipal Leaders Can Mobilize Communities to Improve Public Schools,? have used the visibility and authority of their offices to mobilize their communities around investing in young people and in the future of their cities.

What Mayors Are Doing
If the nation is to make good on its declared goal of ensuring educational success for all students, it must mobilize the entire education capacity of cities. Teachers, principals and central office administrators are an essential part of ? but not the only players in ? such efforts.

Municipal leaders and agencies, public libraries, grassroots organizers, afterschool providers, businesses, higher education facilities and the general public must work in alliance with educators to provide better learning opportunities for young people before, during and after the school day.

More than any time in the nation?s history, mayors are playing an active role in mobilizing these community interests to act collectively on behalf of children and youth. These leaders see a vital link between their cities? capacity to prepare young people for successful adulthood and long-term civic vitality. Mayors have a unique ability to bring together sometimes competing groups around a compelling common interest ? the future of the city?s children.

The mayors of the five cities in the Annenberg Institute study ? Denver; Akron, Ohio; Long Beach, Calif.; Nashville, Tenn.; and New York ? have used practical, high-yield public engagement strategies, along with resources they have found or created, to rally their communities in support of public education. Often, they have done this without much formal authority over the school system?s budget, personnel or school board.

The study results show that mayors have successfully used their unique position t

? Place public education high on the city?s list of priorities;

? Work toward ensuring adequate funding and resources;

? Forge partnerships that enrich and sustain schools; and

? Build public will and support to improve outcomes for the city?s children and youth.

Denver: Increasing Latino Achievement
After a coalition of Latino community organizations and activists met with Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper in 2003 to express their concerns, they proposed that he convene a summit on Latino academic achievement. Mayor Hickenlooper was receptive.

The issue had already been raised by Rev. Luc?a Guzm?n, executive director of the city?s Agency for Human Rights and Community Relations, and Mar?a Guajardo Lucero, executive director of the Mayor?s Office for Education and Children.

Latinos are the largest and fastest-growing segment of the city?s student population and are among those with the greatest needs. Student achievement data suggest that achievement gaps between white and Latino students are substantial and growing.

Engaging the Community in a Broad-Based Summit
Lucero sought input on the summit from a broad range of individuals and organizations. To her surprise, many more people wanted to participate in the event than they had originally planned.

?Once people got wind of it, there was great interest,? she said.

The planning group was strategic about extending invitations and assigning roles at the summit.

?It makes everyone?s work harder to have so many people involved,? said Mayor Hickenlooper. ?But you end up with a final product that?s far superior to whatever a city agency could come up with by itself.?

In 2004, Hickenlooper convened the Mayor?s Summit on Latino Academic Achievement. Some 300 business leaders, elected officials, community activists and educators attended, addressing issues like teachers? roles, parent engagement, the role of language, preschool education and access to higher education. By all accounts, the meeting was a success.

Keeping to Clear Goals
?A lot of what the mayor?s office can do is keep communicating different aspects of the challenge,? Hickenlooper said. He believes this can be done by creating a sense of urgency and, ?educating citizens and businesses that they can make a difference on something that?s of great importance to them ? their business? future, the city?s future.? The conference focused on these goals.

The Colorado Children?s Campaign presented stark data on demographics and educational outcomes. Addressing the business community, former Mayor Federico Pe?a said, ?We are losing the global war to produce the smartest and most creative work force in this century. We must act now, and we must especially focus on Latino students.?

Kati Haycock, director of the Education Trust, provided local and national examples of schools and districts where Latino children achieved education at high levels.

Keeping the Momentum Going
Mayor Hickenlooper pledged to hold a follow-up meeting 100 days after the summit to consider next steps. The second meeting drew an overflow crowd ? more than 200 people ? and led to new partnerships and pledges for action. Hickenlooper and his staff have kept the issue of Latino achievement high on the agenda in the Denver public schools. The mayor visits schools weekly and asks principals what they are doing to support Latino achievement.

These events did not magically create a citywide coalition for educational improvement. But they provided a rare opportunity for various sectors to meet and consider the issues and brought new players to the table, such as Latino activists. The business community and higher education institutions have indicated that they are ready to undertake more comprehensive efforts to improve education in Denver.

Linda Alvarado, president of a Denver construction company said, ?There are more than 50 percent Latinos in the Denver public schools. This is our work force.?

Akron: City-School Board Partnership
When the State of Ohio created a capital fund for rebuilding schools, Akron Mayor Don Plusquellic, saw an unparalleled opportunity. If Akron could raise matching funds, it would qualify for $800 million over 15 years, but the voters would need to approve a tax increase.

On their first try, in 2002, Mayor Plusquellic and his supporters failed to convince voters to pass a countywide sales tax referendum. Laraine Duncan, deputy mayor for intergovernmental relations, recalled, ?Sadly, school districts outside of Akron didn?t see the benefit to their bottom lines, and county residents rejected the idea that they should participate in helping the Akron Public Schools.?

Championing School Funding Campaigns
According to former Deputy Superintendent Donna Loomis, ?Don cared so deeply about this issue that he was not going to leave a stone unturned to find a way to raise matching funds.?

Plusquellic sought legal advice and found that Ohio laws allow cities to use income tax revenue to construct or improve community learning centers. His staff developed a new measure, Issue 10, which would be voted on by Akron residents but would be levied on any individual who worked in Akron and would not be assessed against income from pensions, Social Security or investment. The mayor and community leaders campaigned hard and, in 2003, voters approved the measure.

Duncan said that a key to the successful campaign was to highlight that the community learning centers (CLCs) would be open to the public at all times, including summer months. Loomis said the creation of the centers opened the door for new partnerships with nonprofits such as the one that led to the recent groundbreaking for facilities to be shared by the Helen Arnold CLC and the Akron Urban League.

Another critical selling point during the campaign for Issue 10 was the impact that an $800 million infusion of construction funds ? the largest capital expenditure program in the city?s history ? would have on Akron?s economy. Businesses, unions and residents of Wards 3 and 4, the locus of African-American community life, all strongly supported the measure.

Creating Partnerships to Rebuild Schools
To implement the plan to transform Akron?s entire system of 57 schools, the city and school district entered into a formal partnership governed by a joint use agreement. Having already worked together on the Issue 10 campaign helped strengthen the relationship.

?One of the stories from Issue 10 is how the school district and the city worked together on that campaign,? said Loomis. ?We realized that it?s not the city?s money or the school system?s, it?s the community?s money.?

Superintendent Sylvester Small agreed.

?What will make or break the partnership is the quality of relationships between our organizations  and that starts at the top with the mayor and me,? Small said.

The partnership made a commitment that community residents will also have a strong, active say in the design of the centers. Initially, the partnership worked out how communities should participate, how extensive that role should be and how it could be sustained. The partnership then arrived at a process that recognizes constraints by assessing needs and assets with community leaders, developing a set of programming options and holding open forums to gain community consensus about which option to use.

Duncan warned that one challenge the city and schools face is that enrollment projections ? on which state funding is based ? show declines.

?Our Issue 10 campaign message promised that we?d all have all new schools,? she said. ?[But] some people are not going to have a school in their neighborhood.?

Superintendent Small said he will consider the centers a success if they are in use from morning to night and the community takes pride and ownership of the buildings, including residents who are not parents of students. The mayor agrees.

?Only about 20 percent of the residents have school-aged children,? said Mayor Plusquellic. ?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.?

Long Beach: Creating a ?Seamless? System
Former Long Beach Mayor Beverly O?Neill has a photo in her office that depicts the mayor, the superintendent, the presidents of Long Beach City College and California State University at Long Beach and a class of elementary pupils all raising their hands, during a school visit by former U.S. Secretary of Education Richard Riley.

The photo, O?Neill said, illustrates what city leaders have been trying to achieve over the past decade ? creating a system in which all levels of education and the city government work together to make it possible to get a top-notch education from kindergarten through a master?s degree, all within Long Beach city limits.

Creating a Partnership Around a Common Mission
In the early 1990s, Long Beach schools were feeling the effects of an economic downturn and increasing violence. Former Long Beach Mayor Ernie Kell formed a task force to address education, economic development and public safety and asked local businessman George Murchison to bring together the leaders of the educational institutions. In 1994, they launched a formal partnership to create a ?seamless education system.?

Much of the work of the partnership has focused on ensuring a smooth transition for students between high school, community college and at a university.

?There are no secret formulas here,? said Robert Maxson, president of California State University, Long Beach. ?Public school English teachers, English professors from the community college and English professors from the university get in a room. They look at the content and make sure it is seamless.?

The partnership retooled the California State University teacher-education program, seeking the input of school teachers, in response to criticisms by district staff that the program was not preparing teachers adequately for city schools. Maxson noted the resulting program is so strong that it comes with a warranty: if a teacher, supervisor or principal believes that a California State University graduate is not adequately prepared, the university will provide additional instruction or send a supervisor to work directly with the teacher on-site.

Although the city government does not support the partnership financially, O?Neill has championed it and kept it on the front burner.

?Every time [the mayor] gives a speech about the accomplishments of the city, she mentions the program,? said Maxson. ?That gives it credibility and visibility.?

Maxson adding that the commitment of the leaders of the educational institutions also keeps the partnership thriving.

Strengthening Community Support
The partnership also reached out to the community. In the Principal for a Day program, community residents spend a day shadowing a school principal, which helped wipe away negative impressions, according to Judy Seal, the partnership?s director. In response to parental concerns, the partnership launched a nationally recognized school uniform program.

Cooperation and engagement has led to stronger support for the educational institutions. In 1999, city voters approved a $295 million bond issue for the Long Beach schools, with more than 70 percent support.

?The city is proud of its schools,? said O?Neill. ?They know that you can go from kindergarten to a master?s degree in the same city, and they are all outstanding institutions.?

Data also shows that student achievement, high school graduation rates and college success have improved. Long Beach was named the 2003-2004 winner of the Broad Prize for Urban Education, given to a district that has made exemplary progress in raising achievement and closing achievement gaps.

Some worried that the partnership would wane after Mayor O?Neill left office in 2006. But others maintain that the partnership has become so entrenched in the community it will remain no matter who is mayor.

According to Seal, ??Seamless? is a way of thinking and looking at education.?

Nashville: Restoring Public Confidence
Some local elected leaders avoid involvement in struggling school systems, fearing that their political futures will be harmed. But Nashville Mayor Bill Purcell embraces education improvement as the chief public policy priority of his administration. He believes that the well-being of a city depends on developing future human capital and the more than 80 percent of Nashville residents who voted for his re-election in 2003 seem to agree.

Cultivating strong bonds among individuals, organizations and civic leadership has been Nashville?s leading strategy to build stronger families and communities. And Mayor Purcell prefers a shared leadership model in which educators handle day-to-day management of the schools and the mayor uses the unique leverage points of public opinion, municipal services and funding authority to advance education goals rather than a takeover model.

Celebrating Schools: First Day and First Week
Nashville?s public schools had been beleaguered by physical facilities in disrepair, stagnant test scores, chaotic learning environments, high teacher turnover, and loss of students to private schools and more affluent nearby districts. The poor reputation of the public schools discouraged new arrivals to the area from buying homes in Nashville. Mayor Purcell realized that he had to tackle these problems before the public would support a budget increase for education.

Purcell convened a coalition of leaders from business, higher education and community-based organizations who shared his belief in developing the human talent of young people.

In 1999, the coalition joined the mayor in sponsoring the First Day Festival, which became a citywide back-to-school celebration on the Sunday before the first day of school. It included music, storytelling, puppet and magic shows, roving mascots, concerts aimed at teenagers and giveaways from its many corporate sponsors. Parents were also encouraged to accompany their children to school on the first day, as Purcell did with his daughter.

By 2005, the event was attracting more than 20,000 people. It has united organizations and citizens who normally have little contact.

?First Day is one time when we take down the walls that separate us and celebrate together,? said V. H. ?Sonnye? Dixon, pastor of Hobson United Methodist Church and past president of the Nashville Chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

Schools sponsor First Week activities to bring parents, neighbors and community providers into the schools, such as a ?Boo Hoo Breakfast? at Dan Mills Elementary for parents of new kindergartners. A school counselor at Inglewood Elementary said, ?the public libraries, Boys and Girls Clubs and social service organizations all use this prime opportunity to sign up kids and parents for extended learning activities.?

Building the Community?s Confidence in Its Schools
Nashville has a rich heritage of business partnerships with the public schools, such as those arranged by the PENCIL Foundation, a nonprofit organization that creates a link between the private sector and Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools. Purcell introduced the Mayor?s Honor Roll, listing local employers with release policies for employees to visit their children?s schools, and set an example by gaining approval for release time for city employees.

Public confidence in the Nashville schools was bolstered by First Day activities, an independent performance audit and Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools Director Pedro Garcia?s strong commitment to improving student performance. Believing that the public would now be willing to support increased annual funding for schools, Mayor Purcell requested, and the city council approved, an increase from $397 million in 2000 to $503 million in 2003, along with $165 million in capital funds.

Four years of steady gains, increases in school funding and greater community and business engagement created favorable conditions for school success. With great pride, school leaders reported in 2005 that Nashville schools showed significant, across-the-board achievement gains at all grade levels on the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program.

Purcell has decided not to run for a third term, but Metropolitan Nashville Board of Public Education Chairperson Pam Garrett is not worried about the movement?s survival.

?Anyone trying to alter any major aspect of this new commitment would face heavy resistance from the community and civic leadership,? said Garrett.

New York: Developing Community Leadership
In New York?s District 9, a chronically underperforming district in the Bronx borough, parent and community participation in schools had been limited to volunteering and meeting with individual children?s teachers. Rarely had organized groups of parents, community members and teachers met to explore the possibility of partnership.

That changed in 2002, when the Community Collaborative to Improve District 9 Schools (CC9) ? currently known as the Community Collaborative to Improve Bronx Schools ? coalition of six Bronx community groups met with members of the city?s teachers union to discuss a platform for school improvement developed by the coalition.

Launching a Comprehensive Education Reform Initiative
Public education in New York had long suffered high staff turnover, insufficient student progress, suspicion between unions, district leadership and parents, and disengagement of teachers, parents and students. The city tried to address these issues in the mid-1960s by decentralizing administration. But for 40 years, the system proved resistant to meaningful reform.

In 2002, after years of negotiation and lobbying, the New York State Legislature granted full control of New York schools to the mayor. Mayor Michael Bloomberg called education his administration?s number one priority and, along with Chancellor Joel Klein, launched the Children First reform initiative, which eliminated community district offices and boards, created a region-based structure, replaced the board of education with a panel appointed by the mayor and borough presidents and provided for substantial parent engagement.

The new structure created the space and support that allow innovations to flourish, noted Vincent Gaglione, a District 9 teachers union representative.

?District 9 was in serious trouble,? said Gaglione. ?Both the parents and teachers were under siege by the decentralized structure. The centralized system has less of an ability to ignore and put off collective action.?

Creating an Innovative Model: The Lead Teacher Program
The developing relationships between CC9, the teachers union and the city?s education department were what made the collaboration work. CC9 shifted its traditional organizing paradigm from confrontation to shared vision of education practice, grounding their arguments in data.

?Mutual blame shifted to mutual support,? recalled Eric Zachary, the coordinator of CC9 and a principal associate of the Community Involvement Program, which was formerly housed at New York University, but is now part of the Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown and provides support to the collaborative.

The coalition called for a lead teacher program that would provide additional support to new teachers. Negotiations began between CC9, the teachers union and the city education department around teacher selection, pay differentials and stipends ? explosive issues that had, in the past, created tension. But a new spirit of collaboration prevailed.

New York City United Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten invited members of CC9 to sit at the negotiation table, and CC9 testified in support of the teachers union during hearings before the city council. The Booth Ferris Foundation provided a $400,000 grant, and Klein provided $1.6 million, recognizing that the lead teacher program held enormous potential as a retention strategy and a citywide model for reshaping professional development.

In a significant gesture, the education department agreed to keep the District 9 schools together as an instructional unit ? the only network formed on the basis of the schools? relationship with a community-based organization.

After the first year, an evaluation by the Academy for Educational Development found that the program had resulted in a higher teacher retention rate, was seen as helpful by teachers, was likely contributed to significant increases in student achievement and that it provided a model that could be expanded citywide. The evaluation also showed that the community coalition played a key leadership role in guiding the program.

A number of communities in the city have started their own reforms, such as the Brooklyn Education Collaborative, based on the CC9 model. And the latest teachers union contract expands one of the collaborative?s predominant innovations, the lead teacher program. Beginning this fall, the education department will hire at least 200 lead teachers to serve in struggling schools across the city.

It remains to be seen the extent to which the change in attitudes, relationships and structures will outlast the individuals involved and become part of the common culture in New York schools. But the planned expansion of the project is strong evidence that the lead teacher program has gained purchase as an important model for community and parental engagement in New York and as a high-quality, high-impact reform.

Cities Face Sustainability
Engaging the public is not a one-time event. The cities highlighted in the ?Engaging Cities: How Municipal Leaders Can Mobilize Communities to Improve Public Schools? report and other cities face the challenge of maintaining support for public education in the face of financial constraints and leadership changes.

In Akron, lower enrollment projections could force a scale-back of the plans for rebuilding schools. Mayor O?Neill has stepped down after 12 years as champion of Long Beach?s education partnership, and a new mayor will be elected in Nashville in 2007.

But leaders in these cities are optimistic that, in spite of these challenges, public involvement in education will maintain its momentum because it has become ?the way business is done? in their cities. When a community is so completely engaged in its schools that it cannot envision any other way, education ? and the city ? can only benefit. The five cities highlighted in the report have shown some of the paths toward that goal.

The Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University staff who wrote this article are Michael Grady, deputy director; Robert Rothman, principal associate; Hal Smith, former senior research associate; and Margaret Balch-Gonzalez, staff editor.

About the Case Studies on Challenges Mayors Face in Improving Public Schools

Five cities ? Denver; Akron, Ohio; Long Beach, Calif.; Nashville, Tenn.; and New York ? participated in a study designed to provide municipal leaders across the nation with ideas and resources for successful public engagement to support education reform.

These case studies were carried out by the Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University, in cooperation with NLC?s Institute for Youth, Education, and Families and NLC?s Education Policy Advisors Network (EPAN) and with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Annenberg Institute staff conducted the research for the cases and wrote the report ?Engaging Cities: How Municipal Leaders Can Mobilize Communities to Improve Public Schools.?

This special report summarizes the successes and challenges in mobilizing support for public education in the five cities and the successful public engagement strategies used by their mayors. The institute selected these cities in consultation with NLC and other organizations whose work involves public engagement for high-quality schools.

Institute staff worked with a local education policy advisor and other liaison in each city; interviewed school officials, municipal leaders and community representatives; and toured schools and their neighborhoods to prepare for the report.

Each city chapter highlights useful resources and specific strategies that could serve as models for other cities. The report concludes with a synthesis of successful strategies and an annotated list of additional resources.

The Annenberg Institute, which acts as a resource to EPAN on public engagement strategies, is a national policy-research and reform support organization that focuses on improving conditions and outcomes in urban schools, especially those serving disadvantaged children.

Details: For more information and to download the complete report. visit www.annenberginstitute.org and click on the link under the ?Engaging Cities? section.

What is EPAN?

Created in 2003 by NLC?s Institute for Youth, Education, and Families, with the support of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Education Policy Advisors Network (EPAN) seeks to build the capacity of mayors to become strong advocates for education.

Presently, EPAN includes mayors? senior policy advisors from approximately 65 cities in the U.S.

EPAN provides members with access to the network?s collective expertise and to technical support from education reform organizations such as the Annenberg Institute for School Reform, which serves as a resource to EPAN on public engagement strategies by publishing a monthly e-newsletter and providing direct technical support to several cities.

Details: To learn more about EPAN and NLC?s education programs, visit www.nlc.org/iyef or contact Lucinda Dugger at (202) 626-3052 or dugger@nlc.org.

Lessons Learned

Although results of an Annenberg Institute for School Reform study show mayors? roles vary widely, depending on local circumstances, some useful lessons emerged about effective strategies, minefields to avoid and the challenges of sustaining public engagement to support education.

Researchers found that the five municipal leaders ? mayors of Denver; Akron, Ohio; Long Beach, Calif.; Nashville, Tenn.; and New York ? featured in the ?Engaging Cities: How Municipal Leaders Can Mobilize Communities to Improve Public Schools? report have used the following four broad strategies.

1. Help forge a common vision for educational equity and excellence.
Education reform requires support from many constituencies based in the schools (parents, teachers, families, students, principals and staff), in the neighborhoods (public libraries, grassroots and faith-based organizations, social and human service agencies, and community residents) and among groups and leaders with a citywide influence (government agencies, higher education institutions, reform support organizations, corporations, bargaining units, benefactors and businesses).

Schools have little authority or opportunity to tap some of these resources, and tensions exist among the sectors. Mayors are uniquely suited to build bridges, develop shared understandings and forge coalitions.

In Long Beach and Denver, mayors brought together diverse leaders, often for the first time, and Akron?s mayor-led initiative to rebuild schools linked the city government and the schools together. In New York, Mayor Michael Bloomberg publicly named education as his top priority and worked with Chancellor Joel Klein to create an education reform program and a centralized governance structure that unified the participation of many sectors.

2. Form collaborative bodies to support and sustain the vision.
To make collaborations sustainable, cities have created new institutions that bring together representatives of various sectors regularly.

In Long Beach, the partnership has lasted for a decade because education leaders meet monthly, funded by the business community. Mayor Beverly O?Neill strengthened the commitment of partnership members by regularly highlighting the city?s seamless education system in her speeches. In Denver, Mayor John Hickenlooper reconvened the Latino Summit planning team and organized a follow-up meeting.

Effective collaborations also lay out clear lines of authority. In Akron, school officials realized they needed to accommodate the city when school buildings were opened for community use, with financial support from the city. A joint use agreement explicitly states the expectations for each side. In New York, Mayor Bloomberg and Chancellor Klein created a centralized governance structure that increased accountability and simplified decision making throughout the system.

3. Expand services and supports for student learning and healthy development.
Different supports are required to ensure that all young people have equitable opportunities ? for healthy social, physical and emotional development as well as for acquiring academic skills. Some of these supports will be part of the formal school program; others will be provided by community and civic groups.

Every community has the resources to provide these supports, but not all youth have access to them, and they are not always connected to schooling or organized into coherent pathways to success for students.

Mayors are in a unique position to help align different sectors of the community to support education. Mayor Don Plusquellic of Akron, for instance, led a bold initiative to convert all the city?s schools into community learning centers that would bring the community and its assets into the schools and, at the same time, use the school facilities to serve the community?s needs.

4. Mobilize public and political will for quality schools.
The municipal leaders who were studied have worked hard to ensure that all members of a community ? not just the school personnel ? have a stake in the success of students, a common vision, a sense of urgency and a commitment to tackling challenges together. They have done this by using the following approaches.

? Using power, influence and resources strategically.
Mayors usually do not have direct authority over education systems, but they can engage the public by creatively using the power and influence they have.

When Mayor Hickenlooper of Denver called a summit on Latino academic achievement, the issue ? which had attracted little public attention previously ? became a high priority for the city. When Mayor Bill Purcell of Nashville launched the First Day celebration, he persuaded thousands of Nashville residents to visit schools, changing many negative impressions.

Mayors can also apply the legal authority they already possess. Mayor Purcell sought and won an education budget increase after events such as First Day boosted public confidence in Nashville. Mayor Plusquellic of Akron won a tax increase for school improvements after tailoring the proposal to ensure maximum support and taking advantage of a little-known state code provision.

? Engaging communities authentically ? not just by ?selling.?
Effective leaders know that engagement doesn?t just mean ?selling? ? convincing other people to sign on to their ideas. It involves listening and understanding the perspectives of all parties.

Mayor Hickenlooper invited the input of a broad range of participants in Denver, including previously excluded Latino community groups. In the Bronx borough of New York, the Community Collaborative to Improve District 9 Schools (CC9), the teachers union and the city department of education showed flexibility in negotiating with each other.

? Using data.
Successful mayors marshal facts to convince people to support schools. The organizers of the Denver Latino Summit had compiled reports that revealed to many people for the first time the size of the Latino school population and the challenges Latino students faced and showed successful examples of improving Latino academic achievement. The CC9 collaborative also prepared data to take to meetings, which helped make a convincing case for its lead teacher program.

When Mayor Purcell brought Nashville residents into schools, he showed them positive aspects of schools that counteracted negative images. In 2005, five years after the community engagement campaign around First Day began, data was used to show significant student achievement improvements at all grade levels.