Endorsements

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STATEMENTS IN SUPPORT OF ANNENBERG INSTITUTE'S SCHOOL COMMUNITIES THAT WORK

"The task force has identified the critical link in education reform: the focus on the school district. "Smart districts" will be able to raise student achievement to the high levels of proficiency envisioned by No Child Left Behind."
Roderick Paige, Secretary, US Department of Education

"To redeem the promise of a quality education for every urban school child, we need to make sure that our urban school districts have the capacity and the flexibility at the district level to support high-quality teaching and learning in every school. The Annenberg Task Force is playing a vital role as it lights the way to that path."
Richard Riley, Former Secretary, US Department of Education

"One of the most vexing problems in urban education is how to bring success to scale, how to establish a district-wide system of supports and accountability so that students are meeting challenging standards at every school. School Communities that Work addresses this issue in a thoughtful and compelling way. I am pleased that they are not only offering very constructive advice but will be working closely with a number of districts to insure equity and increase student achievement."
Jim Hunt, Governor, North Carolina

"The Annenberg Task Force took a realistic look at the institutional obstacles to success in urban school districts and produced a plan for change. We can use these ideas to better educate children through a strategy based on strong partnerships and the political will to build local capacity."
Richard Mills, Commissioner of Education, State of New York

"The role of the urban school district in effecting large-scale improvement is very often ignored or misunderstood. I commend the Annenberg Task Force for its district-level focus and its clear depiction of the steps urban districts ought to take to achieve excellence and equity in all of our schools."
Carl A. Cohn, Clinical Professor, Rossier School of Education, University of Southern California; and Former Superintendent, Long Beach Unified School District (1992-2002)

"Supporting teachers to do their jobs well is the essential function of our school districts. How to do that well is the essential function of the Portfolio for District Redesign. School reform efforts that redesign teaching and learning will be successful only if the central office redesigns its work to be supportive and humane. The Portfolio for District redesign makes that essential connection. The tools do what teachers want the central office to doŃsupport thoughtful practice."
Ellen Bernstein, Nationally Board Certified Teacher and President, Albuquerque Teachers Federation

"For a very long time, we have heard extended discussion of ways to enhance opportunity and improve education in our urban areas. If we are serious about moving from rhetoric to results, we will pursue the course set out by School Communities that Work. In that way, we will develop and sustain urban school districts with the capacity to help all children succeed." Antonia Hernandez, President and General Counsel, Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund

"At so many of our inner-city schools, low-income and minority youngsters are performing far below their potential. Parents and community leaders ought to insist that our urban districts provide much more effective support to the educators and students at these schools. The continuing work and leadership by the Annenberg Task Force will help us to make long-overdue changes in our urban schools that will have a very positive effect on students' lives."
Hugh Price, President, National Urban League

"Educators have long believed that school reform will never make the gigantic leaps this century demands by improving schools one by one, but that entire school districts must be transformed in a way that ensures all children have the opportunity to learn, excel and perform at high levels. The knowledge-based economy that is the hallmark of our time-and that will no doubt only become an even more compelling force in the years ahead-requires us all to champion a movement for reform that is both dramatic and intense. The Annenberg Task Force on the Future of Urban Districts, in its two-year existence, has made an urgent case for why there must be district-wide school reform and they have created a blueprint that leaders can follow to ensure that real reform is carried out.

Clearly, America's urban school districts, which educate tomorrow's generation-an increasingly diverse group of students-are in need of attention and support. When Carnegie Corporation of New York joined with the Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University in 1999, we wanted to build on the education reform movements of the 1990s and create a task force that would no longer simply study the issues, but build a real framework for change. The task force was given a mandate to create a strategy that would offer national education leaders, mayors, school administrators, policymakers and teachers a diagram for reform in districts and cities across the country that would make a difference. We believe the task force has outlined a series of activities and strategies that can ensure the development of school communities that do, indeed, support and promote effective schools.

A major step forward on the road to improving America's urban schools was Thomas G. Labrecque's acceptance of the chairmanship of the task force in early 2000. Labrecque, former chairman of New York's Chase Manhattan Corporation, and a longtime supporter of city education needs, accepted the chairmanship with one caveat-he insisted it had to produce tangible change, not simply a report. Tragically, Tom died soon after he took over the chairmanship, but we believe that this report reflects his commitment to genuine reform. The real work of change and the legacy of all those involved in crafting this blueprint now begins. We are optimistic that the partnerships with cities that the task force plans to establish this year will take seriously Tom Lebreque's charge: "The outcome of this task force is results, not a report.""
Vartan Gregorian, President, Carnegie Corporation of New York