Dinner Discussion with David Hornbeck former Superintendent of Schools, Philadelphia

The Philadelphia Experience and Reflections on Urban School Reform
A Forum — November 14, 2000

David Hornbeck stepped down as Philadelphia’s Superintendent of Schools in August 2000 after six years—an unusually long term for large urban district administrators. In a frank discussion with education policymakers in Washington, DC, he characterized his tenure as "some of the best and some of the worst experiences of my life—often on the same day." The experience, however, served to crystallize his belief in the maxim made famous by the late Ronald Edmonds that, "All children can learn the basic curriculum of the school," or as paraphrased by Hornbeck, "We can successfully educate any child in whom we have interest."

"During my Philadelphia tenure," Hornbeck asserted, "students showed noticeable gains in academic achievement. These results, as well as those from Texas and Kentucky, underscore the fact that all students, including those who are historically left out--children of color, students with disabilities, children for whom English is not a first language--can learn at high levels." We have proven that school districts can succeed at scale with the most difficult students. This belief formed the core of his Children Achieving strategy in Philadelphia and, in his opinion, was the source of most of the controversy he experienced.

According to Hornbeck, "The barriers facing our public schools do not relate to the ability of the students or unresolved pedagogical issues, but to the lack of resolve and the unwillingness of educators, parents and the broader community to believe that all kids can learn." Gaps in student achievement are indications of political and social will, not indicators that some children can learn and others cannot, or even the need for further research. He stressed that we know what to do to help children learn and credits initiatives such as Comprehensive School Reform Design (CSRD) models with helping principals and teachers understand whether or not they have an effective school reform model in place. These initiatives have "put to rest the issue of what works" in the sense that we know far more about what works than we have implemented. The real issue on the table is "Which children are we interested in teaching?"

He noted that inequitable financing for public education in Pennsylvania results in serious mistreatment of children and has been sustained by:

• general low expectations of children and youth;
• the unwillingness of educators to accept responsibility for the results of their work—not wanting to be held accountable for results they feel are impossible because of ingrained low expectations; (He elaborated that at the national level, teacher union's have publicly stated an interest in taking more responsibility for the products of their work and could be powerful allies for change.)
• decisions about resource allocations that correspond to the race, ethnicity and income of youth fueled by the belief of many that if some youth cannot learn, you don’t need to spend equitable and adequate levels of money on them.

Historically underserved children in cities, suburbs and rural areas will never get what they need as long as state policies are decided by "people in power who agree to accept the status quo. Until we send a different message to those in power, it will be hard to challenge and change what they are willing to offer." Hornbeck is currently working to form such a movement of congregants from different faith communities, parents, and college and high school students designed to withdraw permission for the educational mistreatment of so many children.

Lessons and Potential Solutions

Among the lessons Hornbeck shared from his Philadelphia experience:

1. Equitable resources alone are not the answer. They are only instrumental when well-used in a context of goals, accountability and support programs.
2. School leaders are called upon to produce results quickly, yet superintendents often have a short tenure (averaging 24 months) on the job. Time is needed for superintendents to provide sustained results.
3. Leadership and passion are required. Leaders should not be confused with managers. While excellent managers may be able to manage anything, excellent leaders can only lead that which they believe in deeply. Leaders should provide a moral authority, value structure, content and persistent focus on goals. More and more school districts are contracting out the academic work and hiring a manager as superintendent when in fact they should hire the visionary instructional leader and contract for the management work.
4. We have given permission to "a system that mistreats children" and only a significant children's movement can undo our strong prevailing belief system.
5. Many teachers are deeply committed professionals. Too often in lieu of increasing the pay for teachers of urban schools the contractual arrangement has been to cut back on the time and responsibilities of the job. Urban districts faced with hard economic choices tend to pay less, have overcrowded classrooms, poor or outdated books, no computers, and no mentoring of new teachers. The result is what you pay for--"lousy student performance." The latest teacher contract in Philadelphia contains some positives, including increased emphasis on professional development and compensation based on demonstrated improvement, not automatic pay raises.
6. Federal money for reduced class size has been a boon to hard-pressed urban districts, and especially to Philadelphia during a period when nearly 50% of veteran teachers have retired over the last few years. These funds have allowed Philadelphia to hire more classroom teachers, not aides, (young, newly trained teachers have a dramatic impact on school spirit and culture) and to cut hundreds of class sizes in half.
7. It is important to foster the superintendent/school board relationship. Even if people are difficult to work with initially, it is important to take a lot of time with each school board member and listen to their concerns. Advice to new superintendents--"Be very clear about what you want to do and put those things in your contract."
8. Parents, children and the faith community may be the best advocates for change. In seeking to implement change in a school district, we should look to young people as vehicles, not just objects, of the change.

American Youth Policy Forum   1836 Jefferson Place NW,  Washington DC 20036
Telephone 202-775-9731      |      Fax 202-775-9733      |     Email aypf@aypf.org