Announcements
Duncan Sees Schools as Centers of the Community
Washington, DC - Education Secretary Arne Duncan made the case this week on the Charlie Rose Program (3/11/09) that, "When the school becomes the center of community life, great things are going to happen for those families, and great things are going to happen to those children." The Coalition for Community Schools wholeheartedly agrees. "With economic stimulus money heading to states and school districts, the Secretary has given us an enormous opportunity to expand people's understanding of what it means when our schools are centers of family and community life, and the resources to jumpstart local and state work," said Martin Blank, Director of the Coalition.
In the interview, Secretary Duncan described his vision for meeting the demands of the 21st Century in which there are enormous changes and challenges in family life and in the lives of children. His plans form around a different view of the school building, the time it is open, who is in it, and how resources are leveraged to run it. Schools, he believes, belong to the community and should be available and open up to 12 to 14 hours per day.
Duncan's suggestion is not simply to lengthen the hours the school is open, but to fill those hours with a variety of after school activities such as arts, sports, debate, and academic enrichment. He also wants programs for parents, including GED and ESL classes, a family literacy night, and community potluck dinners. "Back home we attached health care centers to about two dozen of our schools," said Duncan.
The Secretary has done this in 150 Chicago community schools, an investment in change that he says was arguably the best money spent because, "it was so highly leveraged and had many partners working collaboratively in one spot to provide a vast array of academic, enrichment, social, and medical services to children and families."
The community schools strategy that Secretary Duncan outlines is garnering national support as a new approach to learning-one that builds a bridge between schools, families and communities. Multnomah County, OR; Cincinnati, OH; Evansville, IN; New York, NY; Lincoln, NE; and Baltimore, MD, among others, have major initiatives to make schools the centers of the community.
The Coalition describes community schools as a place and a set of partnerships between the school and other community resources through community colleges, universities, hospitals, health and family service agencies, business and industry, civic organizations, law enforcement, and others in the community. "We don't have to do this all ourselves as educators, we can bring in great nonprofits the YMCAs, the Boys and Girls Clubs, the mentoring and tutoring groups, to co-locate their services," said Duncan. "Let me be clear, this is thinking differently, being creative. It's about partnering, collaborating, and understanding what our children need today to be successful".
Our research shows that community schools are making a difference - in student achievement and attendance, family involvement, and community engagement with public schools. "Surely our schools need qualified teachers and strong principals, and like all public institutions they must be accountable," said Ira Harkavy, Chair of the Coalition. "But just as surely our young people and their families need more connections, more support, more opportunities, and more learning time to be successful. We applaud the Secretary for recognizing that we can and we must do both."
Duncan relayed President Obama's challenge to the country that he wants the United States to have the highest number of college graduates in the world by 2020. He is challenging all of us to do more and hold ourselves-educators, parents, students, and the business community-mutually accountable. And it seems that the Secretary sees community schools as the vehicle for making that mutual accountability come alive. "When schools become the centers of community, great things happen," said Duncan.
The Coalition for Community Schools is alliance of national, state and local organizations in education K-16, youth development, community planning and development, family support, health and human services, government and philanthropy as well as national, state and local community school networks. The Coalition advocates for community schools as the vehicle for strengthening schools, families and communities so that together they can improve student learning. It is a program of the Institute for Educational Leadership.
