The Merrow Report's
Close Up View of School Reform:
Chicago, Seattle and Philadelphia
A Forum — November 12, 1999
Urban school districts in the U.S. have been struggling with improving student performance, retention, and the overall quality of their schools for decades. This forum focuses on the school leaders of three different cities, Richard Daley in Chicago, John Stafford in Seattle, and David Hornbeck in Philadelphia. These individuals each possess different ideas for reform and their attempts to amend the problems of urban public schooling are mapped out in John Merrow’s report for PBS, "A Tale of Three Cities." Over the past eleven years, Merrow followed the triumphs and setbacks of these committed leaders as they journeyed down the road of urban public school reform. With all three cities experiencing a rise in student test scores, Merrow decided to pose the questions "Do the test scores reflect genuine change," and "Have these school reforms actually worked?"
Chicago
In Chicago, Mayor Richard Daley was faced with two fundamentally diverse approaches to school reform. One group of citizens was lobbying for a grassroots reform movement that had, at the core of each school system, a locally elected council. Another group of citizens favored a centralized approach in which the mayor would be given full power over the school system. The grassroots movement succeeded in 1988 when a law passed by the Illinois State Legislature required every public school in Chicago to be governed by a locally elected council. This law placed "the power in the hands of the parents, the community and the teachers," allowing them to elect the principal of each school who in turn hired the teachers. However, seven years later, 70 percent of Chicago’s students were still failing basic skills tests in reading and math. The Illinois Legislature, unimpressed with the strides of the grassroots movement, stripped the teacher’s union of its power, left the local school councils intact, but bestowed upon the Mayor the right to reorganize the system. The Legislature also prohibited the teachers’ union from striking for three years, which alleviated many of Daley’s fears that these dramatic changes to the system would result in teacher abandonment. Solely in control of the nation’s third largest school district, Daley found himself the overseer of 589 schools with more than 431,000 students, mostly minority, mostly poor. "We hit rock bottom. We can’t go any lower. Our schools were a national and local disgrace, but we admitted it," said Daley. One of Daley’s main goals was to lower the dropout rate which stood at a disturbing 33 percent and raise the passing rate on achievement tests. Daley did just that. Four years ago 70 percent of Chicago’s students were failing basic skills tests, and today that figure has dropped to 65 percent.
Seattle
In Seattle, John Stafford, a charismatic, former four-star Army General, dubbed the "children’s crusader," took control of the school district in 1995 with the support of both the teachers’ union and the community. "We have to get the entire community excited about educating our children," shouted Stafford during a pep rally at the dawn of the 1995 school year. In many cases, the unwillingness of the teachers’ union to change prevents reforms from succeeding. Fortunately for Stafford, the union was willing to sacrifice the seniority rights of their teachers. The district hired more competent teachers and raised low test scores. Stafford believed that if parents were given the option of sending their child to any school within the district, schools would be forced to upgrade their programs in order not to lose students. Stafford’s idea of competition between schools undoubtedly helped improve the achievement of Seattle’s students.
During his tenure as superintendent, Stafford fell victim to cancer, but the passing of their education reform leader did not hinder Seattle’s desire to continue to raise student achievement. The foundations had been laid and with Stafford’s successor, Joseph Olschefske, and the support of the community, parents and teachers, Seattle was able to sustain his education reform efforts, giving the city national recognition as a reform model.
Philadelphia
Reversing years of failure is no easy task, particularly when the district is controlled by a stubborn teachers’ union resistant to reform. David Hornbeck was challenged frequently in his attempt to generate change in the system. Taking control of the nation’s fifth largest school district in 1994, Hornbeck was prepared for reform. His reform plan entitled "Children Achieving" included ten points that would help to restructure the failing school system, reduce apathy, and launch a new structure focusing on higher levels of accountability and tougher standards. However, with teacher prerogatives at the forefront of the union’s concerns, Hornbeck was greeted with bitter response to his attempt to rid the system of incompetent teachers. However, with the support of Philadelphia’s mayor, Ed Rendell, and his belief that radical change was needed, the intrepid Hornbeck was able to carry out many of his plans despite the overwhelming negative feelings expressed by his foes.
All three cities have experienced positive gains under three exceedingly diverse leaders. Most notably, test scores rose in all three cities allowing them to achieve national status as "model" districts.
This Brief is based on an American Youth Policy Forum held on November 12, 1999 on Capitol Hill. Reported by Peter L. Hannibal.
The events of the Forum are made possible by the support of a consortium of philanthropic foundations: Charles S. Mott Foundation, Ford Foundation, and General Electric Fund.