New Chicago Schools Chief Offers Two Different School Leadership Models

Correction appended.

Monday morning, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced the appointment of Jean-Claude Brizard, currently the superintendent of the Rochester, N.Y. school system, as Chicago Public Schools chief.

Brizard is set to lead the third-largest public school system in the country, one that, like many other urban school districts, is struggling with budget woes and labor problems.

Superintendent appointments in cities across the country are slowly shaping the face of the next generation of education reformers. Providence, Detroit, Newark, Atlanta, Broward Country, FL and Montgomery, MD are next in line to hire new school leaders.

Brizard, a native of Haiti, embodies two types of urban superintendents. On the one hand, he’s a former principal with masters' degrees in school administration and science education. He’s a product of the classroom who went on to follow a traditional path of school management, serving as a regional superintendent of New York City schools.

On the other hand, he’s a graduate of the Broad Foundation’s Superintendents Academy -- a program that stresses the corporate-tinged, charter-school championing policies emphasized by the Obama administration -- that is much maligned by teachers unions.

David Bloomfield, chair of the education department at CUNY’s College of Staten Island, said Brizard’s appointment shows the impact of the Broad Superintendent Academy on urban education.

“In that respect, I am discouraged, because it is a one-size fits all ideology,” he said. But he also addressed Brizard’s background as an educator: “To the extent that [the appointment] shows the resurrection of educational leaders, it should be commended.”

“His style in New York City was one of outreach and responsiveness,” said Bloomfield, who worked with Brizard when Bloomfield led the High School Parents Council and Brizard served as New York City’s Executive Director of Secondary Education. “He would regularly meet with parent and school leaders for feedback to find out what was really going on in the schools,” he said.

Chicago's teachers union is approaching Brizard with caution. “Obviously, I appreciate the teacher and the administrator in him," said Chicago Teachers Union president Karen Lewis.

But she is skeptical of the Broad Foundation’s approach at large. “What the Broad people want to do is to shortcut through running a system,” she said. “I think it’s dangerous to think that this is about management. There are so many different moving parts here. There are people who have no educational background who have a chance, because they’re wealthy, to dictate educational policy in this country. This leads to a lack of democracy.”

Brizard's fitness for the job "depends on which part he cares most about and which one means more to him,” Lewis said.

The announcement of Brizard’s appointment comes less than two weeks after magazine maven Cathie Black departed from her post as New York City Schools chancellor, and was replaced by Dennis Walcott, whose experience in the classroom has been lauded.

That about-face in New York, Bloomfield suggested, could signal other school districts looking for leaders to change their approach. "It appears, perhaps, that there’s been a shift in political thinking away from one size fits all management to instructional leadership and outreach,” Bloomfield said.

Yet Chicago might be the more potent harbinger of superintendent searches to come. U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan had previously led Chicago’s schools, and Emanuel collaborated with Duncan during his time in the White House.

Emanuel called Brizard an “experienced educator and proven manager,” according to the Chicago Sun-Times. At the press conference, Emanuel said he had interviewed six or seven candidates. Brizard won Emanuel over in an interview by saying, “it will take a generation to save a generation.”

Emanuel added that Brizard’s candidacy prevented him from having to choose between an education and a manager, calling a decision between the two "a false choice."

Brizard is the first schools chief pulled from outside the Windy City since 1995, when the mayor received control over that appointment, the Wall Street Journal noted.

While some education experts heralded Brizard’s reception of and openness to parental concerns, leaders of Rochester parents’ groups and the local union said it was insufficient.

In Rochester, Brizard championed a management-like style, closing failing schools and quickly opening new ones in their place. Still, a recent study by the New York Board of Regents found that only 5 percent of the low-performing district’s graduates are prepared for college, based on state test scores, the Wall Street Journal noted.

Adam Urbanski, president of Rochester’s teachers union, said Brizard had a tin ear. “Whenever someone complained against him, he would dismiss it as noise,” he said, noting that 94.6 percent of teachers gave him a no-confidence vote in a secret ballot survey. “I am puzzled why Chicago would select him. His only chance of doing better in Chicago than he does in Rochester is if he applies the lessons learned here.”

Brizard signed a contract in January that would have kept him in troubled Rochester for three more years, but in a letter to Rochester Board of Education president Malik Evans he announced his intention to resign. A spokesman for Rochester’s schools said Brizard was unavailable for comment.

Correction: An earlier version of this article misstated David Bloomfield's name. He is David, not Douglas.

Comments

[O Godfrey]

01:29 PM on 04/30/2011

"Brizard, a native of Haiti, embodies two types of urban superintendents. On the one hand, he’s a former principal with masters' degrees in school administration and science education. He’s a product of the classroom who went on to follow a traditional path of school management, serving as a regional superintendent of New York City schools."

Well, here we go again! Another competent superintendent in school administration, formative and summative tests, and education models, but probably has no clue about how to link K12 curriculum to the needs of business and society in general. He'll probably make a half million per year and then move on to another city. These people haven’t had experience outside of academia so how can they know what students need to become successful in the job market?

As an example, businesses spend millions of dollars each year on soft skill courses such as listening and indeed many colleges are adding supplemental listening and note-taking learning for new students. Don't you think listening as well as note-taking should be taught in K12? I do!

Why don’t schools hire superintendents that have knowledge of stakeholders and needs assessments as a means of aligning K12 curriculum to the needs of business and society in general? The current K12 curriculum hasn’t changed since the 18th century (Horace Mann) which continues to focus on reading, writing, and math. Public education is in serious need of a current (2011) needs assessment!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Needs_assessment

[Nomanchez]

07:10 PM on 04/19/2011

Luckily our Chicago Teachers Union is being led by a very capable and progressive leader. Karen Lewis and her team are doing what all teachers across the country need to be doing; organize and lobby. We need to fight back against this assault on public education. Charters schools and their corporate sponsors need to realize that if they want to operate schools, they need to do it on their own dime.
The worst part about this is that many Democrats across the country are taking the lead on this. Republicans were always on board but now they've convinced enough elitist Democrats to push their privatization schemes. Shame!

[bubbaofnewyork]

04:55 PM on 04/19/2011

It would seem to me, based on the records of some of the Broad candidates, that districts would avoid them like the plague. The fact that many of them are still getting hired is an indication of how the business model people are hijacking public education, mostly in large urban centers. My guess is that you won't see these candidates in districts where there is an educated populace. They know and understand what makes schools work, and they don't want a graduate by a fly-by night leadership academy leading their teachers and children.

[tultican]

04:33 PM on 04/19/2011

One of the first school systems to experience this top down politically connected leadership based on business management philosophy was San Diego Unified. In 1998 Allan Bersin a person politically connected to Vice President Al Gore was hired to run the district. At first, teachers had high expectations for a promise of education reform. Tony Alvarado was hired to lead the effort and a genuine attempt was made to implement research based changes. However, the wheels soon came off because of the ham fisted way reform was implemented. Instead of embracing the professionals who wanted to improve education in San Diego, harsh edicts with no discussion allowed were handed down and principals were forced to either get tough with their staff and fire some people or find a new job. Unusually high turnover and pitiful morale ensued.

Bizzard is a graduate of the Broad Superintendents Academy Class of 2007. It appears that the Broad Foundation teaches exactly the kind of management that Tony Alvarado brought with him from New York. Close schools and fire teachers to motivate staff with fear. Today they have many more clubs to use against professional educators. Charter schools, value-added evaluation and weakened unions to name a few. I hope the teachers in Chicago unite, refused to be cowed and do not give up anything at all without a battle royal. It is time to fight for the future of American education.

[John Thompson]

03:58 PM on 04/19/2011

This was the best of the articles on Brizard because it did a great job of addressing the Broad school. Our Broad school rookie was incredibly talented and sincere. He visited my students, even though he was abrupt when the disagreed with him. Since he was a rookie with no experience at all with a system that was 90% low-income, you would have thought he'd take time and listen. He was gracious, though, when I beat him for the First Annual Buffalo Chip Throwing Contest. But he seemed to believe he was still in Montgomery County. He did not doubt the Broad top down system. After a disatrous six months, he was forced to resign.

I'd also like to know the background behind Banchero's article on Emmanuel putting in his team for Brizard. Sounds weird, but anything would be better than a team of Broad true believers implementing the Broad ideology.

[rst2536]

02:37 PM on 04/19/2011

OBAMAS’S EDU-MEN

Obama knows that education
Needs business minded edu-men
To get things moving. Amputation
Of all not in his regimen
Of “innovation” suffer hacking
Until there’s nothing left for whacking
But selling off the public schools
Which he and Duncan made cesspools.
They’ll go for pennies on the dollar
Wherever Gates and Rhee and Broad
Have dumped the load from their commode.
At last, when schools are stuck in squalor,
The only way to clean these “sties”
Is wiping out Obama’s lies.

Please see more at http://poemsonaffairsofstate.blogspot.com/

[capitalismisntamoral]

10:49 AM on 04/19/2011

"Cathie Black ... was replaced by Dennis Walcott, whose experience in the classroom has been lauded."

Experience in the classroom? Lauded? Really?

18 months of kindergarten in 1974.

You neglect to point out that Walcott ALSO needed a waiver because he has (legally) insufficient educational experience.

To claim that the appointment of Walcott is an "about-face" by King Mike is a huge stretch, if not outright spin.

[Brian Bastyr]

10:11 AM on 04/19/2011

The new CPS CEO is Jean-Claude Brizard. He does have educational experience in the classroom, but here's a red flag -- a month after Brizard signed a contract to continue leading Rochester, the Rochester Teachers Association gave a no-confidence vote in his ability to lead.

Regardless of that, it probably does not matter as to who steers the Titanic. Until we do something about poverty and the pernicious effects of it, CPS kids will not succeed at the level of expectations. There are many reasons why the highest positive correlation to ACT scores is socio-economic status.

http://www.churchofthehumanbeing.com/2011/04/education-czar-new-cps-ceo.html

Here's a collection of links to articles about Brizard. Maybe he does fit into the "traditional Chicago Way"

http://www.churchofthehumanbeing.com/2011/04/education-czar-guide-to-jean-claude.html

[MyNameIsJames]

12:40 AM on 04/19/2011

If this superintendent doesn't understand African American students and respect African American culture he will fail like the rest of them. End of story

Administrators, teachers, mayors and others who attempt to "improve" education in predominantly African American school systems usually fail- they have no idea how to relate or solve problems with their students nor their parents - it is so predictable.

If you are not comfortable sitting among, hanging out with and celebrating with Black people -- you cannot get the job done educationally.

"Education not based within a cultural context for African American students is not quality education at all."

This axiom is NOT taught in our nation's collegiate education schools. One size fits all is the most destructive assumption that our nation's educators employ. It is absolutely false.

Look at the systematic failures across the board. It is not a surprise - we have also seen these same type of failures with Native Americans - in South Africa with African students- and in Australia with the indigenous people.

It is a translation problem-- not only of language but of culture. While politically incorrect to say, the evidence is overwhelming. This not about the inherent intelligence of African American students -- it is about teaching style including the intonation of the voice used, the dominant modalities employed, the structure of the school day, the ability to understand cultural cues, and how well the schools are integrated into the surrounding communities.

[random100]

10:35 AM on 04/19/2011

Are there models to follow in the US?

[gregcurts]

08:32 AM on 04/21/2011

Explain African-American Culture to me???? Let the sterotypes role.

[westello]

07:03 PM on 04/18/2011

Beware of Broad candidates from what I like to call "Broad Superintendent Charm School." Seattle just ousted its own Broadie, Maria Goodloe-Johnson who was nothing short of a disaster. Teachers? Voted 99% no confidence in her leadership(and this was AFTER they voted a historic teachers' contract with more assessment on their work). She gave some staff raises of 50%, alienated parents and worked on her Blackberry during public testimony at Board meetings. Final straw? No oversight on a program where a con man was filtering district money to his own account. These Broad people are not what they seem - it's a lot of smoke, churn and mirrors.