DCPS SUPERINTENDENT ACKERMAN RESIGNS

After a little over two years of frustration with her many bosses, and repeated assertions of being "micromanaged", Arlene Ackerman submitted her resignation and accepted the equivalent post for the San Francisco School System. She had been brought in by DC's Control Board to serve as head of academics under a big-name management expediter, General Becton, and named as his successor when he left in frustration. Her tenure had been marked by criticisms of indifference, thin-skinned reactions, and failure to solve many of DCPS' management and administrative problems (such as special ed bussing), but in the end, the mayor, the Control Board, and many seasoned observers were encouraging her to stay. Her most outspoken critics--other than the perennial activists with instant solutions--were members of the DC Council. Her tenure was just below the national average for big-city school system superintendents--which may in part explain why the entrenched problems of these institutions are seldom dispelled.

NARPAC is in no position to judge her performance, but urges the city to hire a top-notch manager for the top position, and a top-notch educator for the number two position, and try to find some way to streamline and constrain DCPS oversight. The problem of finding a successor will be complicated by the forthcoming special referendum on changing the composition of the elected school board (including who hires the superintendent). It appears inevitable that some momentum will be lost in DCPS reform. Ackerman's letter of resignation is included below, as well as Joyce Ladner's commentary therteon:

The Honorable Alice M. Rivlin
Chairman
D.C. Financial Responsibility and Management Assistance Authority
One Thomas Circle, Suite 900
Washington, D.C. 20005

May 17, 2000

Dear Dr. Rivlin:

After careful thought and heartfelt deliberation, it is with regret that I tender this letter of resignation as Superintendent of the District of Columbia Public Schools, effective July 17, 2000. When I became Superintendent two years ago, I knew that I had accepted one of the most difficult jobs of my professional career. It has been that, but I want you and everyone in this city to know that it has also been the most rewarding.

In my tenure as Chief Academic Officer and Superintendent, tremendous strides have been made to move this school district from crisis to promise. These are accomplishments that would make any school district proud:

• Improved academic achievement;
• Ended social promotion;
• Year-round (Saturday and Summer) learning opportunities for more than 40,000 students;
• Highly-regarded content standards for all subject;
• Performance targets for schools with incentive awards;
• Textbook adoptions for grades K-1 2 and bilingual education;
• A Weighted Student Formula that promotes equity;
• Negotiated pay increases for teachers and principals, and evaluation instruments that include pay-for-performance incentive clauses;
• Collaboration with the Washington Teachers' Union on multiple education initiatives;
• Restructuring of the Special Education department for improved programs and services and the elimination of longstanding backlog for initial assessments;
• Improved school facilities with major capital improvements and repairs;
• Reduced central administration costs from 15 percent to less than 6 percent of school district budget; and
• Expanded central office hours (two hours) to better serve school staff and citizens.
  
  

The D.C. Public Schools are now attracting national attention because of our aggressive reform agenda that puts children first. I believe that we are on the right track and have laid the foundation for continuous progress. The important work that lies ahead for sustained progress will require every aspect of local government and the community to support the total reform of the D.C. Public Schools. I am confident that under your leadership, and that of Mayor Anthony Williams, this city will take the necessary actions to ensure that the infrastructure needed to support school operations will be implemented in a timely manner.

It has been my pleasure to be a part of the new renaissance of Washington, D.C. I salute, with great respect and admiration, the scores of dedicated educators and staff members who work tirelessly on behalf of our students. I thank the many parents, community and business members who have offered their unwavering encouragement resources and technical expertise. I also want to thank the Control Board members (past and present), Mayor Williams, Congresswoman Norton, members of the Council, the Board of Education and, specifically, the Emergency Transitional Board of Trustees whose work and focused support have made this progress possible. Finally, I will never forget the wonderful, beautiful children of this city. They, as an inspiration to all of us, have exhibited a multitude of talents and have demonstrated the will to succeed.

I wish for this school district much continued success. Those who have worked so hard will continue to do so, because they do it for children. I will be leaving for San Francisco, but a part of my heart will always be here.

Respectfully,
Arlene Ackerman
Superintendent

Former Control Board Member Ladner Reacts to Ackerman's Departure

Superintendent Ackerman's resignation has been met with a variety of reactions, some indicating that she will not be missed. Former Control Board member Joyce Ladner (now a senior fellow at Brookings), who had presented the Board's views on DC public schools years earlier, has also provided her views on Ackerman's departure (abridged by NARPAC from her OpEd in the Washington Post):

When Arlene Ackerman announced her resignation as school superintendent for the District, Post columnist Marc Fisher [May 19] attempted to justify the loss with the catchall phrase "the schools are still a mess."...

To suggest that nothing has changed under Ackerman is disingenuous, because she and her predecessor, Julius Becton, took on some of the toughest issues faced by any superintendent in recent memory.... It fell to Becton and Ackerman to fix problems brought on by (years of) neglect.

Then came the hindrances thrown up by Ackerman's many "bosses." Despite them, she managed to find ways to make substantial progress. It was her refusal to bow to the special interest groups--i.e., "parent activists"--and politicians of every stripe, especially the city council, that proved to be her fatal "flaw."

Prior to Becton and Ackerman, parents could "work the system" because it was so dysfunctional. For example, parents exerted enough influence in some schools to pick the teachers and complained loudly enough to get the administration to remove teachers and principals they didn't like....

Ward 3 elementary schools have long had the reputation of being "run" by the parents. In addition, these schools got more than their share of resources because of the "squeaky wheel" syndrome. Most of the residents of Ward 3 (in which I have lived since 1981) send their children to private schools after elementary school.

Ackerman recognized this as a serious problem and ...appointed a diverse group of citizens to study the problem and recommend ways to implement a weighted per-pupil funding formula to ensure the equitable distribution of resources to schools. By starting to do the right thing, she created a host of enemies who would not relent until she was driven out.

Certain individuals and groups played critical roles in this. Kathy Patterson (D-Ward 3) took a leading role in the markup of the council's Education Committee budget.... She is but one of the many critics on the council, in the mayor's office, on the control board, in Congress and among the "parent activists" who feel they know more about how to reform a greatly underperforming urban school system than the superintendent. Would they tell their children's pediatrician how to examine their children and recommend their own course of treatment?

The politicians have argued that they are performing their "oversight" role. I beg to differ. What Ackerman experienced was meddling, micro-management and abuse at the hands of those who do not like her because of the reforms she was making. We rarely hear these critics talk about what is in the best interests of the children. Instead, they attack the person. ...

While the critics attack Ackerman for being less than enthusiastic in her support for charter schools, they fail to recognize that she has to provide a safety net for students who attend those charter schools that fail. She also has had to re-accept the 500-odd students who left the charter schools during the year and returned to the public schools with no concomitant funding. In addition, she has had to fix special education, which, with remedial education, consumes one-third of the budget.

What this city needs desperately is for the "haves" to understand and empathize with the desperation the economically disadvantaged feel when programs that bring hope to their children go up in smoke. Why can't Ackerman's critics understand that poor people want the best education for their children too? Do they ever think about the welfare of the children who do not live on their block or attend their kids' schools?

Thousands of economically disadvantaged people found hope in Ackerman's attempts to give their kids a fighting chance. How will we ensure now that these children will get the preparation to participate in the D.C. College Access program if we keep running superintendents out of town?

I am convinced that Arlene Ackerman, who is a colleague and friend, was making a critical difference in the lives of many children who have been written off and from whom little was expected. She knows that an investment in their education would help them work themselves out of poverty. Ackerman need not worry about whether she left a legacy. The latest SAT-9 scores say it all. In 1997, the year she began working for the D.C. Public Schools, only 11 percent of 10th graders were scoring at the basic level. Now 31 percent do so. There's a long way to go, but that's a lot of progress in three years.