Pillar 3: Empowered Leadership
Outside of the family, educators have the greatest direct influence on the life of a child. Making real a vision of world-class schools depends in large part on our ability to attract, retain, develop and support outstanding principals, teachers, and staff throughout the system.
That means principals and teachers must be empowered and rewarded as professionals. It means educators should be given greater responsibility and the time and resources necessary to develop continually as professionals. And it means that everyone should be held accountable for results.
Effective leadership is inclusive. While every school must be led by an outstanding principal, leadership also extends to each and every classroom teacher, to dedicated staff, to students, and to community partners. We need to create and help actualize models of distributed leadership, recognizing that everyone who has a stake in the present and the future of public schools - students, parents, teachers, principals, staff, district administrators, community based organizations, municipalities, colleges and universities, faith-based organizations, labor unions, businesses, and foundations – needs to work together if we’re going to bring fundamental, sustainable improvement to our public education system.
There are tens of thousands of great educators throughout LAUSD whose work should be celebrated and supported. Educators will not be able to guide, challenge and nurture students to success if we do not create the conditions for their success. That means we must provide our educators with compensation commensurate with other professions with safe and supportive facilities; and with appropriate instructional materials, modern professional development opportunities, career progression and advancement options, and positive school cultures that value and respect their opinions about pedagogy and curriculum. We must be consistently focused on recruiting, developing, and retaining high quality educators.
1. Pay Educators More
If we are to attract and retain the best talent, we need to pay at levels that are commensurate with other professions and with surrounding jurisdictions. When adjusted for inflation, LAUSD teachers’ total compensation has actually been flat and salaries have decreased over the last five years, a clear sign that we need to pay our teachers better.
While major salary increases will require new state funding, we estimate it will be possible to pay principals, teachers and school site staff significantly more over the next several years by streamlining central support and increasing student attendance (state funding is driven by Average Daily Attendance).
In addition to paying educators more on the whole, we need to begin to explore providing additional compensation for those teachers that take on substantial additional responsibility and deliver results at schools. These responsibilities could include but not be limited to teaching a longer school day or on weekends, teaching in the lowest performing schools or to the most challenging student populations or serving as a mentor teacher. The Denver Public Schools has rolled out a differentiated professional compensation program, and the Milken Teacher Advancement Project offers a constructive example.
2. Empower Schools with Control Over Key Decisions
Schools are constrained by “one size fits all” mandates. We need to move decisions away from the downtown bureaucracy and into the area closest to the classroom: the schoolhouse. School-based leaders should play a central role in making critical decisions for their school including hiring, allocation of budget resources, programmatic focus areas, and the integration of healthcare, libraries, and other public services. This increased responsibility must be coupled with extensive professional development and defined parameters. Additionally, as school leaders are given more responsibility to run their schools, they should be held accountable for student results. Giving school leaders more power to lead has been a key factor in the national success of KIPP, one of the leading operators of public schools in the country.
Principals must be liberated from the central office mandates for compliance and given more autonomy to manage their schools. A principal’s time should be focused on instructional leadership, interactions with parents and students, and developing community relationships.
3. Teachers Lead in their Classrooms
Our school system must declare and define clear requirements and parameters for its A-G curriculum and follow rigorous state standards. This is not inconsistent with building in substantial flexibility, supports, and accountability for teachers to develop and creatively customize the curriculum and instructional practices they use to meet the unique needs of their students. School site personnel also should play a meaningful role in their own professional development and the district’s Peer Assistance and Review process should be reinvigorated and implemented.
4. Give Students a Real Voice in their Schools
Providing students with the opportunity for ongoing, meaningful commentary about their schools and their learning will allow them to develop a greater sense of responsibility for their education and a heightened excitement for learning. Through student surveys and committees, important data and context for school improvement plans can be collected. The Chicago Public School system provides an example, having begun to make student surveys a vital part of the high school experience. Students should also be included on committees to help drive decisions related to sports, extracurricular activities, elective courses, and other areas.
5. Launch a Leadership Academy for School Leaders
Talented principals are essential to a school’s success and fundamental to the ultimate success of the school system. We need to develop a phenomenal training program to ensure that all principals in LAUSD are qualified to take on this pivotal role and lead well.
A Leadership Academy for aspiring school leaders should be launched, drawing on best development practices from both the private sector and the education sector. This Leadership Academy should emphasize instructional leadership, community relations, team-building, as well as instruction in the professional practice of teaching, school facility maintenance, and financial management. The program will include both non-school site leadership training opportunities as well as opportunities for aspiring leaders to shadow successful principals on school sites. The Department of Education in New York City is one of many school districts in the country investing in leadership development programs that we can use as a model. The DOE’s Leadership Academy has placed more than 110 new principals in New York City’s neediest public schools with mentor support. These schools have posted greater gains on the English Language Arts (ELA) tests than other schools city-wide with first-year principals.
6. Attract the Best Talent by Launching a “Teach in LAUSD” campaign
We will lead an aggressive and creative recruiting effort to attract outstanding principals and teachers to “Teach in LAUSD”. Similar to the “Teach NYC” campaign, a professionally managed campaign to attract “New York’s Brightest,” a sophisticated multi-faceted media outreach effort should be utilized, engaging partners such as Teach for America, The New Teacher Project, New Leaders for New Schools, and other organizations with proven track records for recruiting outstanding talent to public schools. During this campaign, we should look locally, making a concerted effort to influence young adults and adults changing careers to come into the teaching profession. Outstanding leaders and managers from the private and non-profit sectors are also a prime target and resource for bringing management best practices to school support services.
That means principals and teachers must be empowered and rewarded as professionals. It means educators should be given greater responsibility and the time and resources necessary to develop continually as professionals. And it means that everyone should be held accountable for results.
Effective leadership is inclusive. While every school must be led by an outstanding principal, leadership also extends to each and every classroom teacher, to dedicated staff, to students, and to community partners. We need to create and help actualize models of distributed leadership, recognizing that everyone who has a stake in the present and the future of public schools - students, parents, teachers, principals, staff, district administrators, community based organizations, municipalities, colleges and universities, faith-based organizations, labor unions, businesses, and foundations – needs to work together if we’re going to bring fundamental, sustainable improvement to our public education system.
There are tens of thousands of great educators throughout LAUSD whose work should be celebrated and supported. Educators will not be able to guide, challenge and nurture students to success if we do not create the conditions for their success. That means we must provide our educators with compensation commensurate with other professions with safe and supportive facilities; and with appropriate instructional materials, modern professional development opportunities, career progression and advancement options, and positive school cultures that value and respect their opinions about pedagogy and curriculum. We must be consistently focused on recruiting, developing, and retaining high quality educators.
Empowered Leadership Initiatives:
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1. Pay Educators More
If we are to attract and retain the best talent, we need to pay at levels that are commensurate with other professions and with surrounding jurisdictions. When adjusted for inflation, LAUSD teachers’ total compensation has actually been flat and salaries have decreased over the last five years, a clear sign that we need to pay our teachers better.
While major salary increases will require new state funding, we estimate it will be possible to pay principals, teachers and school site staff significantly more over the next several years by streamlining central support and increasing student attendance (state funding is driven by Average Daily Attendance).
In addition to paying educators more on the whole, we need to begin to explore providing additional compensation for those teachers that take on substantial additional responsibility and deliver results at schools. These responsibilities could include but not be limited to teaching a longer school day or on weekends, teaching in the lowest performing schools or to the most challenging student populations or serving as a mentor teacher. The Denver Public Schools has rolled out a differentiated professional compensation program, and the Milken Teacher Advancement Project offers a constructive example.
2. Empower Schools with Control Over Key Decisions
Schools are constrained by “one size fits all” mandates. We need to move decisions away from the downtown bureaucracy and into the area closest to the classroom: the schoolhouse. School-based leaders should play a central role in making critical decisions for their school including hiring, allocation of budget resources, programmatic focus areas, and the integration of healthcare, libraries, and other public services. This increased responsibility must be coupled with extensive professional development and defined parameters. Additionally, as school leaders are given more responsibility to run their schools, they should be held accountable for student results. Giving school leaders more power to lead has been a key factor in the national success of KIPP, one of the leading operators of public schools in the country.
Principals must be liberated from the central office mandates for compliance and given more autonomy to manage their schools. A principal’s time should be focused on instructional leadership, interactions with parents and students, and developing community relationships.
3. Teachers Lead in their Classrooms
Our school system must declare and define clear requirements and parameters for its A-G curriculum and follow rigorous state standards. This is not inconsistent with building in substantial flexibility, supports, and accountability for teachers to develop and creatively customize the curriculum and instructional practices they use to meet the unique needs of their students. School site personnel also should play a meaningful role in their own professional development and the district’s Peer Assistance and Review process should be reinvigorated and implemented.
4. Give Students a Real Voice in their Schools
Providing students with the opportunity for ongoing, meaningful commentary about their schools and their learning will allow them to develop a greater sense of responsibility for their education and a heightened excitement for learning. Through student surveys and committees, important data and context for school improvement plans can be collected. The Chicago Public School system provides an example, having begun to make student surveys a vital part of the high school experience. Students should also be included on committees to help drive decisions related to sports, extracurricular activities, elective courses, and other areas.
5. Launch a Leadership Academy for School Leaders
Talented principals are essential to a school’s success and fundamental to the ultimate success of the school system. We need to develop a phenomenal training program to ensure that all principals in LAUSD are qualified to take on this pivotal role and lead well.
A Leadership Academy for aspiring school leaders should be launched, drawing on best development practices from both the private sector and the education sector. This Leadership Academy should emphasize instructional leadership, community relations, team-building, as well as instruction in the professional practice of teaching, school facility maintenance, and financial management. The program will include both non-school site leadership training opportunities as well as opportunities for aspiring leaders to shadow successful principals on school sites. The Department of Education in New York City is one of many school districts in the country investing in leadership development programs that we can use as a model. The DOE’s Leadership Academy has placed more than 110 new principals in New York City’s neediest public schools with mentor support. These schools have posted greater gains on the English Language Arts (ELA) tests than other schools city-wide with first-year principals.
6. Attract the Best Talent by Launching a “Teach in LAUSD” campaign
We will lead an aggressive and creative recruiting effort to attract outstanding principals and teachers to “Teach in LAUSD”. Similar to the “Teach NYC” campaign, a professionally managed campaign to attract “New York’s Brightest,” a sophisticated multi-faceted media outreach effort should be utilized, engaging partners such as Teach for America, The New Teacher Project, New Leaders for New Schools, and other organizations with proven track records for recruiting outstanding talent to public schools. During this campaign, we should look locally, making a concerted effort to influence young adults and adults changing careers to come into the teaching profession. Outstanding leaders and managers from the private and non-profit sectors are also a prime target and resource for bringing management best practices to school support services.
