News - "Our Vision for San Diego City Schools" by Dr. Cohn

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"Our Vision for San Diego City Schools"

By Dr. Carl A. Cohn

As prepared for delivery at the Administrators Association Breakfast held on February 8, 2006.

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Good morning.

I'd first like to take a moment to say thank you to Jeannie Steeg and the Administrators Association for this opportunity. This is one of the first chances I have had since I joined San Diego City Schools to speak before such a large and diverse group of people, from principals and central office administrators to elected officials and community members. So thank you to Jeanie and all of the folks who coordinated this wonderful breakfast.

In my four months here, including a 90-day listening and learning period, I've had some time to look around, get lots of input and see what makes this district tick. I've also had the chance to develop a series of high-level goals for the district.

While I've shared these goals many times, I think they're worth repeating today. The first is to accelerate gains in student performance. I use the word performance because, while many educators will use the term achievement, I believe our students perform in many ways. At our last meeting in January, the Board of Education recognized more than 500 students for their accomplishments in academics as well as the arts, athletics and JROTC.

I believe all of these are important in educating our children and so from my perspective, I see it as my job to ensure we have the resources to provide students with these enrichment opportunities. We need to make sure that our students receive a balanced, well-rounded education, and provide them the classes and supports to engage them so they want to stay in school.

My second goal is to provide safe, orderly and well-maintained schools. This is where Jose Betancourt, our new chief administrative officer, comes in. Jose will be overseeing our business operations and facilities, working with district principals and staff to achieve this goal.

I subscribe to the broken window theory, which holds that a broken window or a school in disrepair sends a powerful, negative message to the community. I want all of our schools to be shining, welcoming centers of their communities. Whether they are north or south of the 8, all of our students deserve a school they can be proud to attend.

My next goal is to strengthen parent, community, business and higher education support. I believe the folks here have done some tremendous work with community support, however, I think there are areas in which we can improve.

In my opinion, we have too many parents coming to board meetings with issues that should be worked out at levels much closer to the point of origin. I think this is symptomatic of an operational structure that isn't working. I have some ideas on how to fix this, which I'll discuss later on.

In addition, we need to work on maintaining parent engagement at the secondary levels. We also need to partner with local institutions of higher education in order to create clear career and educational paths for our students.

My fourth goal is to boost employee morale. Only by working together with employees at all levels, can the other goals be achieved. We need to put the past behind us and concentrate on building an environment of respect, dignity and cooperation. You cannot take charge of the present if you are busy reliving the setbacks of the past.

Finally, I intend to secure adequate funding for schools. This is going to become more and more important. I know everybody is cheering at the news of the governor increasing state spending. It is good news. The bad news is that this unexpected windfall may be a one-time increase, and that the state money is only part of our funding.

This year, we expect to lose some 12% of our Title I money, which comes from the federal government and is used to support programs at schools serving our most needy students. This equals approximately $6 million in cuts from our district and schools. We also have several pressures on our budget, including a declining student enrollment base, which reduces our revenues; increased costs in health and welfare benefits; increased salaries; and the end of certain grants and supplemental funding. In addition, we have been deficit spending over the past couple of years, and so we need to replenish our reserves to state-mandated levels. This means that we still face difficult budget choices for the coming fiscal year.

Our schools are now in the middle of their budget planning for the next school year and we have asked them to make some very hard decisions. In addition to many schools receiving less Title I monies, we have asked all schools to set aside 2.5% of their budget for uncertainties. This is because the state budget is a moving target until signed, and we need to provide our schools and district a cushion so we don't have to ask our sites to make any mid-year cuts.

This is not going to be easy - it's going to mean cutting positions, and some tough belt-tightening. However, we need to trust our principals to make the right decisions for their schools.

I've asked district staff to make certain that we work closely with our schools to provide the best support possible given budget realities as we know them today. If the budget situation should improve between now and the final state budget revision in May, I've also asked that we restore these funds, as needed, to our schools.

Like all of my goals, I think it can be accomplished if we provide the right supports. So, how do I plan on achieving the rest of my goals?

Many people are wondering about the little place up north where I was superintendent for 10 years, and if I'm going to try to turn San Diego into Long Beach. While I'm extremely proud of the work I accomplished in Long Beach, earning the Broad Prize in 2003, I have no intention of simply replicating what we did there just for the sake of trying.

One of the reasons I decided to come back to administration, in addition to getting closer to the classroom, is to see if all of what I have been teaching and consulting can work in San Diego.

So what I am committed to doing? I want to involve parents and community members to see what they want out of their schools and their district. The changes we made in Long Beach were embraced by the community because they came from the schools and the parents. So, I don't plan to implement a district-wide uniform policy or create a single-gender school unless it comes from the parents and schools.

I want the schools to work with their parents and community to decide what they want, whether it's to have uniforms, or to have K-8 schools. And then, I want district staff to get on the same page, working to support these efforts. But, I want it to come from the schools and the community.

You know, people keep saying that I'm not "charter-friendly." That's just not true. I am charter friendly, but I think, as a district, we need to ask ourselves why these folks think charter schools are the only way to go. And, just as important, we need to ask "how can we respond to the needs of the community the way charter schools are?"

We need to provide more autonomy for schools and their communities. There's no reason we can't have a school like Gompers Middle School Charter that requires parent involvement. There's no reason we can't have our own district schools like High Tech High.

These changes can happen, but we need to find the right pace of change for San Diego. I don't make sweeping changes for change's sake. We need to listen to the community and then we need to provide the resources to respond to their needs.

Part of being responsive will take the form of lessening the bureaucracy I see around the district. I would like to create a structure that will enable us to solve problems closer to schools. I want schools to serve the students and parents, and I want the central office to serve the schools.

I want us to take a customer-centered, client-oriented approach using a business model such as the Malcolm Baldrige continual improvement process. We need a systematic method of evaluating ourselves and being accountable to the people we serve.

These things, I hope, will contribute to my overall vision of a better performing district marked by improved relations - between schools and parents, administration and unions, superintendent and board members.

I commit to doing my part and ask that you do the same. Take this message back to your schools, your homes and your communities. Although my initial 90-day listening and learning period has passed, I will continue to listen to our schools and parents and pledge to do what I can to provide the resources to our schools. You need to be active partners, meaning principals listening to their parents, community members working as volunteers as partners and elected officials working with us to maximize our combined resources. Let's make today as the first step toward achieving this vision.

Thank you, and thank you again to the Administrators Association for this opportunity. # # #