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City Platform Section II, Step 8:
"Develop a blueprint for how the city, schools, business leaders, community groups, and parents will work together to support and improve student achievement, high school completion, and post-secondary success."
Communities with high-quality public schools attract families, prepare the next generation, and have a distinct advantage in the competition for new businesses and private-sector investments. Mayors and other local officials are uniquely positioned to strengthen community capacity and public will to address key education challenges, bring partners together, and use city resources to help address the safety, health, and social service issues that affect the ability of children and youth to maximize their learning potential.
City Examples
New Haven, Conn.
Mayor John DeStefano, Jr., brought together a team of local stakeholders to focus on the provision of equitable resources and educational opportunities for all children in New Haven. Using a district-wide accountability plan adopted by the New Haven Board of Education in 2002, this team sought new ways to promote shared accountability for educational outcomes by engaging the community in educational improvement efforts.
As a result, the team held a series of focus groups to get input on the accountability plan from parents, businesses, community residents, and educators. They also developed outreach tools defining the roles different groups could play. Through a major campaign to engage parents, more than 7,000 parents signed pledge cards committing to set aside time to help their children with homework.
Mayor DeStefano also hosted a successful education summit where members of the business community pledged to sponsor internships, mentoring programs, scholarships, and other activities. NLC's YEF Institute provided technical assistance to support these efforts.
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Columbus, Ohio
Columbus Mayor Michael Coleman used his leadership in the community to address a key concern for the city: persistent achievement gaps among students from different racial, ethnic, and socio-economic backgrounds. To this end, he not only established the city's first Office of Education, but he also created the Education Advisory Commission to serve as consultant and advisor to the city council.
In May 2002, Mayor Coleman hosted a Community Leadership Summit on closing the achievement gap to determine what various community partners could bring to the table to achieve shared objectives. One of the key outcomes of the summit was an action plan based on both rigorous data analysis and the input received at the summit.
Key elements of this roadmap included: sharing promising practices; developing common data collection and analysis strategies; providing targeted professional development to educators; increasing public awareness and advocacy; and expanding out-of-school learning opportunities for youth. NLC's YEF Institute provided technical assistance to support these efforts.
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Resources
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