by AFT President Sandra Feldman
September 1997

We must not try
to perpetuate schools
to which we would
not send our
own children.

When the late Al Shanker started Where We Stand over 25 years ago, he pledged that he would freely explore and advance ideas, even if they were controversial and were not AFT policy. The new Where We Stand, which begins with this column, will have a different voice, but it carries the same pledge. I've spent my life in urban public schools--and there's probably nothing going on there that I haven't seen. So I'll be able to puncture some myths about how the schools work, confirm others, and raise issues that often get pushed aside. Our schools have plenty of problems; they also have many strengths. I'll be writing about both.

* * * * *

One of the most outrageous things about failing schools is that everyone--including the district administration-- knows which ones they are, but often years go by and no one does anything about them. In some cases, a school's problems are obvious: There is chronic disruption and violence, poor attendance, filthy hallways, and of course, achievement that is consistently below par. But sometimes a failing school is just a dead place where everyone has given up.

What can we do about these schools? Put simply and starkly, I believe that those of us responsible for public education must never defend or try to perpetuate a school to which we would not send our own children. If a district has recognized that a school is in trouble and has given it help over a period of time and if the school has not responded, we must shut that school down and start anew.

A Simplistic Response

The good news is that states and cities are taking steps to shut down failing schools. The bad news is that in most cases they do it crudely--getting rid of people instead of bad practices, putting in new people and keeping the same old programs and practices that didn't work to begin with. This strategy, which often goes by the ugly name of reconstitution, offers a simplistic response to a complicated problem.

There are many reasons why schools fail. Poor leadership is one of them, and a shortage of qualified teachers is another. Often administrators have settled for weak, watered-down curricula instead of adopting solid, proven programs, and they are unwilling or unable to maintain school discipline. And often there is an unconscionable lack of books and supplies--a sure sign of terrible management, even when resources are scarce. But if we shut down one of these schools--and do it right--the school can come back.

One New York City high school, for example, had incompetent principals for years. Discipline was never enforced. Violence was common. There were assaults on teachers and students, and students rioted in the halls and lunchroom. Many teachers had lost confidence in their ability to do their jobs.

How did this dysfunctional place get turned around? By starting over. Working together, parents, the teachers' union, and an enlightened superintendent were able to close the school and re-open it as four small, theme-based schools in the same building. Today, parents who had forsaken the failing school are sending their children back. There's a waiting list for students--and teachers--at the new school. About half the original teachers stayed; the others were allowed to transfer to schools elsewhere in the district.

No One Group Is To Blame

As the New York experience and similar experiences elsewhere show, no one group is to blame for failing schools and no one group can achieve the necessary change. Boards of education, superintendents, the leaders of local teachers' unions, and school staff have to work together on solutions. On criteria to identify failing schools. On humane and dignified processes for transferring staff if that is deemed useful or necessary. And above all, on bringing in programs and practices that have been proven to work, especially with at-risk kids.

I made this proposal in one of my first speeches as president of the AFT--to an audience of AFT members and teams of school board members and administrators from school districts around the country. I thought that saying we should get out front in support of shutting down failing schools was a bit risky, but my risky proposal got a standing ovation.

Good ideas can be ruined in their execution. It's essential that we shut down failing schools. It's also essential that we do it right. If we have the guts and the patience to work together, we can rebuild these schools into places where teachers can teach and kids can learn and flourish.