Education

70 Organizations Pledge ‘Major Efforts’ To Improve Schooling in Inner Cities

By Ann Bradley — January 23, 1991 3 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

Representatives of more than 70 organizations met here last week in an unprecedented display of concern for urban education and formally committed themselves to working together to find solutions to the problems of big-city school districts.

Along with the 47 school districts that make up the Council of the Great City Schools, the wide range of business, labor, civic, philanthropic, and education groups represented here signed a statement pledging to work together to develop “major efforts” to improve urban education.

Billed as the “urban education summit,” the meeting grew out of the work of the council’s national urban-education task force. The task force, chaired by Joseph A. Fernandez, chancellor of the New York City public schools, was formed last year after the council adopted six goals for urban education modeled after the national goals supported by President Bush and the nation’s governors. (See Education Week, May 30, 1990.)

Beginning last summer, the task force brought together representatives from national organizations to begin discussions of new educational approaches that would increase districts’ ability to reach the goals.

The resulting document, “Strategies for Success,” was released last week at the summit. It contains dozens of recommendations for change that would increase districts’ likelihood of meeting the goals, along with descriptions of programs and activities already under way in each area.

Participants in the summit--including representatives of the National Alliance of Business, the aspira Association, the Children’s Defense Fund, and the National Alliance of Black School Educators--noted that the gathering marked the first time such a diverse group of organizations had come together on behalf of inner-city schoolchildren.

‘Pulling in Same Direction’

The conference-goers showed wide agreement that educational needs cannot be separated from children’s social and health needs.

“For the first time, there’s a commitment on the part of all of us to stop battling about turf and get to work,” Mr. Fernandez said.

“We’re all coalescing together and pulling in the same direction rather than against each other,” Mr. Fernandez added.

But no one underestimated the size of the task facing the largest school districts as they attempt to meet the goals by the turn of the century.

“Writing the six goals was the easy part,” said Keith B. Geiger, president of the National Education Association. “Reaching, or even beginning to reach them, is the difficult part.”

The cloud of budget cuts and economic recession also hung over the gathering, as many speakers argued that substantial improvements cannot be made without increased resources.

But the example set by Seattle, Wash., seemed to offer the group some hope. After an education summit there convened by Mayor Norman Rice identified the city’s educational needs and priorities, voters last November approved a $65-million tax levy over seven years to provide a wide range of social, health, and educational services.

Mayor Rice, a keynote speaker at last week’s gathering, said a time limit on the levy was set because “we owe it to the voters to come back and say how well we’ve done.”

Chancellor Fernandez, who is facing a critical budget shortfall in his city, said the approach taken by Seattle may be the only way for urban districts to succeed in persuading voters to provide more money.

“Right now, the attitude out there is that they are pumping money into urban districts and not getting anything out of it,” the New York City chief said.

The Council of the Great City Schools now plans to create an advisory board to guide the efforts to reach the goals and report on districts’ progress.

The council also plans to measure how much support it receives from the national groups that participated in the summit, including financial investments, support for specific programs, and political and legislative assistance.

A version of this article appeared in the January 23, 1991 edition of Education Week as 70 Organizations Pledge ‘Major Efforts’ To Improve Schooling inInner Cities

Events

Jobs Virtual Career Fair for Teachers and K-12 Staff
Find teaching jobs and other jobs in K-12 education at the EdWeek Top School Jobs virtual career fair.
Ed-Tech Policy Webinar Artificial Intelligence in Practice: Building a Roadmap for AI Use in Schools
AI in education: game-changer or classroom chaos? Join our webinar & learn how to navigate this evolving tech responsibly.
Education Webinar Developing and Executing Impactful Research Campaigns to Fuel Your Ed Marketing Strategy 
Develop impactful research campaigns to fuel your marketing. Join the EdWeek Research Center for a webinar with actionable take-aways for companies who sell to K-12 districts.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Education Briefly Stated: February 21, 2024
Here's a look at some recent Education Week articles you may have missed.
8 min read
Education Briefly Stated: February 7, 2024
Here's a look at some recent Education Week articles you may have missed.
8 min read
Education Briefly Stated: January 31, 2024
Here's a look at some recent Education Week articles you may have missed.
9 min read
Education Briefly Stated: January 17, 2024
Here's a look at some recent Education Week articles you may have missed.
9 min read