PIE Network Guest

Accountability has been a key issue in the decade since No Child Left Behind, with states building elaborate education systems, tests, and performance reports, and then hoping for the best, according to the Center on Reinventing Public Education’s Betheny Gross. “When it worked it was great, when it didn’t, the states could only cross their fingers,” she said. “Louisiana came along and really changed the game with the Recovery School District. That is now the high water mark for state intervention in turnaround.” Michigan is one state now looking at the improvement in New Orleans schools and wondering how they can mirror that intervention.

Recovery School District - Bold reforms in Louisiana

The Recovery School District was based on a law passed before Hurricane Katrina that allowed the state to take over any school that feel far below expected performance, explained CRPE Director Paul Hill. But it wasn’t used until Katrina destroyed most of New Orleans’ schools. According to Hill, “The last thing the state wanted to do was to rebuild the old system.” So Louisiana announced a takeover of all the district schools that fit the RSD criteria.

The state created new schools, in whatever buildings they could, in whatever time they could. The RSD was opened up to charter schools took advantage of new local non-profits the formed to attract teacher and leadership talent to New Orleans.

“When New Orleans got going and the RSD got its power, they stated using it in other areas in the state,” said Hill. “That is the real hammer in the state accountability system.”

Joining talent with flexibility for big change in Michigan

Michigan’s disaster was economic and not natural but towering in scale nonetheless. With the situation in the Detroit Public Schools and a 18 other districts in the state dire, the governor pulled together a team to figure out how to replicate what Lousiana’s RSD accomplished in Michigan—and to do it on a very short timeline. David Esselman of Great Gains and consultant to the governor’s office, described Michigan’s effort to address financial and academic failures this way: “We were basically building a new state agency using ‘MacGyver’ tactics in 12 weeks.” Creating a state-led turnaround district would require creativity and more than a little risk taking.

Whereas Louisiana already had a law on the books endorsing the RSD, Michigan had to create an agency with the authority to take over schools. The usual process of gaining legislative endorsement was impossible given the timeline and politics in the state. Michigan side-stepped this process by using the MEDC (Michigan Economic Development Corporation) model, which meant the new agency could be approved by the governor alone.

With the authority in place they still had to wrestle with what this agency should look like. They could borrow ideas from the RSD but the context in Michigan was different enough that they couldn’t simply copy the RSD. Esselman said the goal in Michigan was to create a system with the flexibility to execute change. “We asked a lot of questions,” he said. “What does this look like and how can this change?”

In the end Michigan formed the Education Achievement System (EAS). The EAS can close low-performing schools or even absorb entire districts. It can’t certify teachers and, unlike the RSD, it doesn’t have charter authority. It can, however, give school leaders an immense amount of latitude. “They didn’t want to go the total charter route; they saw strength in other opportunities,” said Esselman. “Based on RSD, they wanted flexibility.”

The turnaround efforts are starting in Detroit and will expand to other districts “In the first year, they hope to only take on as many schools as they have teams to take on.”

Teachers and transformation

Hurricane Katrina displaced much of New Orleans’ population, including its teacher workforce. Hill explained that new non-profits like New Schools for New Orleans formed to draw high quality young teachers and leaders to the city, giving the region a new talent pool to teach and run new schools.

Michigan, on the other hand, is flush with talent. Due to dramatic student enrollment declines, the city of Detroit has not hired a new teacher in more than seven years, said Esselman. Meanwhile, institutions of higher education still turn out substantial numbers of new teachers and leaders. Michigan wants to use this existing talent to drive school transformations. Esselman explained the goal is for a good team of teachers to come up with a plan for a new school. He went on to say, “I believe we have de-professionalized teachers and I would like to give them the opportunity to achieve [a turnaround].” The bar, of course, will be set very high. But whether it is a team of teachers, or some other type of operator, Esselman remarked, “At the end of the day we are all about the outputs, not the inputs.”

Sustaining over the long term

The demands of the crises in Louisiana and Michigan meant that state leaders made many front-end decisions regarding the RSD and EAS with very limited stakeholder involvement. Closed-door decisions can’t continue forever. “The challenge is to be as open to stakeholders as you can,” said Hill. “There needs to be some sensitivity so third parties won’t come down on you in support of the people who are really angry.”

Esselman agreed, explaining that going forward Michigan is embarking on an effort to engage as many stakeholders as it can. Esselman further remarked, “For us to start a school and be successful we really need to work with the stakeholders and truly listen.”

Sustaining means adapting but adapting to failures and successes smartly. The RSD and its partner organizations were aware that “their first bets were shots in the dark and they kept adapting them,” said Hill.

States also need to be smart about how they deal with schools that improve. In Louisiana it appears that improved schools will move back out of the RSD but where schools go is an important but not yet resolved question. Hill said if schools that have been chartered are put back under the control of local school boards, the result will be “catastrophic.” Michigan, taking another approach, envisions schools staying in the state district. Esselman said Michigan hopes to create such a good support system for schools that they will “never want to leave.” He added, “If schools are successful they should be able to choose where they want to go.

Creating a successful RSD

Where should a state’s thinking about an RSD-style reform start? When asked about the keys to creating a successful state recovery school district, Hill said, “You need to be able to contract for whole schools. You need the ability to array all the schools on an accountability framework so there is an objective way to show what schools fall below the line. You need the ability to fund schools on a productivity basis and deal with fixed budgets. This has to be done with an elected official or leader.”