Opinion
School & District Management Letter to the Editor

Cross-Sector Collaboration Can Unite All Types of Schools

October 27, 2014 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

To the Editor:

The article “Some Districts, Charters Forge New Partnerships” on state-led charter-district collaboration in Florida was encouraging, but if charter schools truly are to become education innovation labs, robust cross-sector collaboration is the key, and it won’t be just charters doing the teaching.

This is the core belief at Schools That Can, where we work. Within our network of more than 130 high-performing schools serving high-poverty populations in 15 cities, we unite leaders across district, charter, independent, and faith-based schools to expand high-quality urban education. We see innovation in all corners, despite—or perhaps because of—the diverse governance and financial backgrounds of our schools, and they are eager to learn alongside each other.

When district, charter, and independent schools collaborate, school leaders and teachers all bring their knowledge to the room. When these groups gather for meaningful cross-sector practice sharing, they break down the silos that separate us from one another, while improving outcomes for all students.

With so much discord about educational “reform," we must create opportunities for schools to unite across sectors on behalf of students. Instead of fighting about our differences, we should focus on the power that is unleashed when we unite around common goals and build lasting solutions on the ground so every school can thrive.

Because we already know that students can.

Casey Lamb

National Director of Growth

Schools That Can

New York, N.Y.

Jennifer Husbands

Executive Director, Chicago

Schools That Can

Chicago, Ill.

A version of this article appeared in the October 29, 2014 edition of Education Week as Cross-Sector Collaboration Can Unite All Types of Schools

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

School & District Management Q&A When This Principal Talks About Mental Health, People Listen. Here's Why
The NASSP Advocacy Champion of the year said he used stories from his school and community to speak with his state’s legislators.
6 min read
Chris Young, a principal from Vermont, poses for a photo in front of a Senate office building in Washington, D.C.
Chris Young, a principal from Vermont, stands in front of a Senate office building in Washington on March 13, 2024. Young was among the secondary principals to meet with legislators urging them to keep federal funding for schools stable.
Olina Banerji/Education Week
School & District Management Teacher Layoffs Are Mounting. How Districts Can Soften the Blow
Layoffs are coming in districts large and small. Here's how district leaders can handle them.
8 min read
Pencil Eraser Erasing Drawn Figure
AndreyPopov/iStock/Getty
School & District Management Opinion 5 Strategies to Combat Student Disengagement
When principals get serious about building a more inclusive school community, it doesn’t just benefit students, but teachers as well.
Michelle Singh
5 min read
Illustration of a bright vibrant school where students feel welcomed. In the background the sky is filled with enthusiastic raised hands.
Vanessa Solis/Education Week via Canva
School & District Management Advocacy or Electioneering? Education Leaders Walk Fine Line in School Voucher Debate
Texas is cracking down on district leaders' allegedly political speech—in what others see as a pretext for quashing anti-voucher sentiment.
5 min read
Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton walks away after announcing Texas' lawsuit to challenge President Obama's transgender bathroom order during a news conference in Austin, Texas, on May 25, 2016.
Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton walks away following a news conference in Austin, Texas, on May 25, 2016. Paxton recently sued several Texas school districts for allegedly engaging in electioneering before the March 5 primaries.
Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman via AP