Cooperation and independence. Ideally, school leaders
will welcome the participation of a community coalition and offer their
cooperation and support. Yet a measure of independence from the school system
is essential to the coalition's credibility. Improving the quality of education
for middle school students sometimes demands putting pressure on the schools
themselves--a proposition that makes some educators extremely nervous. To
gain and sustain their support, the coalition must make its mission clear
from the beginning, and school system leaders need to understand how the
coalition will seek to achieve its objectives.
The structure of the coalition's leadership can also help. In Louisville,
for example, the coalition is based within the county school system, and
its coordinator is a former teacher; yet the coalition's chair is the director
of an ambitious youth services program within the office of the mayor. One
of the leaders of the Jackson coalition, Ann Jones, is an influential local
businesswoman who is also a former school board member.
Service creates credibility. Try to include among the coalition's
early goals something tangible that the schools identify as a needed improvement
or contribution, but that also brings members of the community into direct
contact with the schools. When a coalition in Wichita recruited volunteers
to work regularly in the middle schools, for example, skeptical educators
saw that they were willing to do the really difficult work of helping children
learn. The good will thus generated can serve as the basis for genuine,
respectful cooperation between the school system and the coalition, even
when the coalition asks tough questions or proposes ambitious reforms.
Students come first. Higher student achievement is a goal
that creates an expanse of common ground, where members of a coalition can
usually work productively together. In some communities, however, the school
system has seriously neglected middle level education, and the achievement
of students has languished. Where this is the case, getting the official
support of schools may be difficult or impossible--but these are also the
places where responsible and creative advocacy for improved middle schools
is most vital. Even in these districts, a handful of committed educators
will usually welcome the efforts of a coalition and find ways to help.
The rule of thumb, then, is that everyone benefits when community representatives
and educators work together to organize and sustain an independent coalition.
When this cooperation is not possible, the needs of middle school students
are paramount, and citizens should proceed with organizing the coalition,
always alert to opportunities to develop positive relationships with school
system leaders.
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