(Vol. 1, No. 2 - Spring 1997)

LBUSD "is hearing what business is saying"

Editor's note: Wilma Powell is Chief Wharfinger of the Port of Long Beach and chair of the advisory board for the Youth Development and Resource Center at Stanford Middle School. She talked with Changing Schools reporter Reagan Walker about the business role in school reform.

Q: Why is the Port of Long Beach involved in school reform issues?

A: The Port of Long Beach is an international port. What happens here has an impact on every part of our community, and we depend on the community for support. The Port of Long Beach has so many different kinds of jobs to fill that it's important to us that our education system is a very efficient system that will produce the kind of workforce that we are going to need in the 21st century.

Q: What kind of workforce will you need? What are you looking for in terms of skills and knowledge?

A: It's a very diverse workforce and we can go all the way from jobs that require minimum skills, like a high school diploma, to a college degree or Ph.D. We have skill workers, including mechanics, carpenters, plumbers. From that level we go to computers, experts in urban planning, environmental issues, finance. We are a multi-million dollar operation. We have finance, administration, real estate. We've got attorneys. So these are the kinds of people who work here at the port in addition to generalists, who are managers.

Q: Would you say there is a basic level of education that you are looking for in every employee, in terms of basic skills and problem solving?

A: Yes, particularly for the people in my job -- the wharfingers. We are the managers. That's what we do, we solve problems. We are asked to do almost everything. In an industry like this, things are moving so fast. Cargo is moving fast. You don't really have time to sit down and do a lot of advance planning. To stay on top of things, you have to have good analytical skills. You need good writing skills. There's a lot of correspondance back and forth with the tenants of the port, with the city attorney, etc.

And I think interpersonal skills are exceptionally important. Our top management stresses customer service. If there's a problem, then solve it. My staff is out there on a daily basis, reacting and solving problems with our tenants. Sometimes there's a lot of stress. You have to be able to de-escalate certain situations. Part of our job is to enforce port tariffs and the rules and regulations and fees. So you have to have good people skills, too.

Q: What do you see happening in the school system that addresses your needs?

A: The school system has come a long way in a very short time. I'm involved with the Long Beach Community Partnership. We are seeing more partnerships between the school system, government and the private sector to create what we are calling a "seamless" education effort. We have the top people in the school system, from elementary schools to universities, working together to find a way to get the kids reading, doing math, doing basic skills. We want to make sure that as students go from one level to the next, they don't get sidetracked by remedial work. That's why we want to make sure all students can read by the time they finish third grade.

Q. Large urban school systems are sometimes criticized about their slow response to community concerns. What's been your experience here in Long Beach?

A. The school system is hearing what business is saying about the workforce we need. I think we've come a long way in communicating with each other.

I've participated in the "Principal for a Day" program, where I went out and spent a day with a principal. You see what they are working with and they have a lot of challenges. But you also see that people haven't really sat down and asked themselves whether there's a better way. They haven't reached the point of saying, "this is antiquated, there are new ways to do this." Maybe the school system is going to have to start training their teachers and staff to look at things that way -- maybe getting them more into the corporate life so they see the way it is; the way businesses really run.

Q. Do you think the schools have a harder job today?

A. Students are different now. Kids seem to be out there on their own, without a lot of direction. Like the First Lady said, "It takes a village to raise a child." I really think that's true, from the parents to the teachers to the churches to the firefighters, the policeman. It's going to take everybody.
Industry is doing more in terms of providing role models. We are bringing more students in and really letting them see what it's like in the world of work. And that seems to get through to kids, showing them how the knowledge and skills they're learning connect to the real world. Just sitting in a classroom doesn't seem to reach them.

Q: Why have you decided to focus so much of your attention on middle schools?

A: Middle school students are on the brink. They are not adults, but they aren't children. Their hormones are raging; they are in a state of confusion. So just with peer pressure and everything going on, it's a difficult time. But I still believe that middle school students want limits and guidelines, no matter how much they say they don't. It's a time where either they are going to go the right way or the wrong way. They need to understand they can do something with their lives if they can meet certain standards.

Q: Do you feel a personal responsibility to be involved with students at this stage in their lives?

A: Yes. I think I'm a very good role model for students in general, and for African-American students in particular. I think society has not necessarily shown that there are people of color out there doing very positive things. So they don't get that exposure. That's why I choose to be principal for a day and choose to bring students to the port. I want kids to see that no matter what economic status you are, if you work hard, it pays off.

Q: How important do you think it is that the community of Long Beach, through the Long Beach Community Partnership and other means, really rally around the schools?

A: That's one of our most essential needs. I think that's what the Partnership is all about. It's brought to the table a lot of people in policy positions who can make change. When you put those people together, all of a sudden, they start to see things from new perspectives, from other people's perspectives. And when people say "we can't do that," you have someone else coming from a different place and a different set of experiences who can say: "Well, have you thought about. . . ."

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