In recent years, a growing number of cities have supported mayoral takeovers of their school districts. Boston, New York, Chicago, Washington D.C. and Cleveland are just a few examples of cities that have sought educational reform through mayoral control. Presently, several other major cities, including Dallas and Milwaukee, are contemplating such a move. It remains to be seen whether the mayors in this latter group succeed in their efforts to take over their cities’ troubled school districts, but they are at least likely to garner support from one important source-Arne Duncan, the new Secretary of Education under the Obama administration.
Speaking at the U.S. Conference of Mayors on March 31, 2009, Mr. Duncan emphatically stated that mayors should take over troubled school districts in more cities. He said that “mayoral control provides the strong leadership and stability needed to overhaul urban schools.” Currently, only seven mayors have full control over school district management and operations. Mr. Duncan made it very clear that he would like to see more. “At the end of my term, if only seven mayors are in control, I think I will have failed,” he stated.
Mr. Duncan is himself not only a fan but the product of a mayor controlled district. Before President Obama nominated him as Secretary of Education, Mr. Duncan served for seven years as the Chief Executive Officer for Chicago Public Schools, a district which has been under mayoral control since 1995. Once viewed as one of the country’s most troubled urban districts (in 1987, former Secretary of Education William Bennett called it the “worst school system in the country”), Chicago Public Schools were the focus of numerous corporate and grass-roots reform efforts before the state legislature finally gave control of the system to Mayor Richard M. Daley in 1995. Over the following years, the district saw a dramatic rise in test scores and graduation rates.
In a 2005 interview with a reporter from Los Angeles, Mr. Duncan stated that “none of that would have happened without the mayoral takeover.” He went on to say, (in Chicago) “We have an appointed board rather than an elected board. We have one team, one team that is working on behalf of all children, one team that is willing to make the tough decisions and tough choices, and I would strongly advocate that in L.A. the people give the mayor control of the schools. I think that it is frankly the only way that you are going to be successful in urban areas.”
While visiting New York in February, Mr. Duncan also complimented Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s “extraordinary courage” in taking control of that city’s schools. But his strongest comments to date on the subject came at the mayors’ conference on March 31. After the forum, Mr. Duncan went on to tell the Associated Press that “Part of the reason urban education has struggled historically is you haven’t had leadership from the top.”
We support Mr. Duncan’s and the current administration’s efforts to encourage educational improvement and innovation. We also agree with Mr. Duncan’s suggestion that student achievement across a district will only occur under strong leadership. A public opinion poll hosted by the Citizens Association found that Kansas City voters are ready to embrace significant reform of our school district. In fact, 78% support the idea of replacing the current elected board with an appointed board. This concept was most strongly supported when it was suggested that members of the school board be appointed by leaders of local educational and civic institutions rather than the mayor or other elected official.
While mayoral takeovers have brought improvements to many school districts across the country, their success is sometimes contingent on particular personalities. We believe that what we are proposing is a governance structure with an eye toward the future; a structure that is subject to periodic voter approval but designed to last while individual leaders come and go. More importantly, we are proposing the governance structure that is most strongly supported by our community as a whole. This just might be a concept that our new Secretary of Education could support as well.
