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Sunday, August 10, 2008

Editorial

School board, Calloway must settle differences

The Detroit Public Schools could not be more desperate for stable, strong leadership. Yet just one year into Superintendent Connie Calloway's tenure, some school board members and their supporters are trying to build support for her ouster. They are misguided.

Detroit needs Calloway, if for no other reason than she's the best the DPS is going to get. If she's run out of town, no sane superintendent would touch Detroit.

Calloway has some flaws, for sure, and she's learning to handle a district the size of Detroit. But she has a stubborn determination to succeed, she is committed to cleaning up the district's legacy of corruption, and she understands that new models of education must be put in place.

Calloway's critics argue she is a political novice who has failed to work respectfully with key constituencies, including parents. Board members have challenged her communication skills.

She has a responsibility to maintain a better line of communication with the board. The board is her boss, and she has to learn to work with it.

But the board has a responsibility as well. It hired her to improve the district, and its members have to give her a chance to do that.

Everyone should understand that Detroit cannot afford another superintendent switch.

The district is in extreme crisis. Its students are trapped in schools that have the worst drop-out rate in the country. The poor performance is showing up in an enrollment free-fall. More than 10,000 students fled the district last year, and another big drop is expected with classes resume next month.

Education experts say that at best, DPS has two to three years to turn itself around or it will be put out of business by the city's growing community of charter schools. Even the most optimistic analysts say it will take extraordinarily effective and focused leadership to meet the challenge.

If anti-Calloway forces succeed in ousting the superintendent, the school board would need months to replace her. Most likely, another school year would be lost. Now that the Legislature has removed the cap on Detroit charter schools, another year of leadership uncertainty would pretty much finish off the Detroit Public Schools.

Those who are undermining Calloway should set aside their personality conflicts accept that Calloway is their best chance for the district's survival. If they have issues with the way she interacts with them, then address that. But don't use it as an excuse to derail her reform agenda.

The board needs to support major cuts in staff. About 8,500 of the district's 16,000 employees are non-teaching staff, according to the Calloway administration.

Calloway must cut non-teaching positions to balance the district's budget and invest money in classrooms.

The board needs to support her in that, even if it means some of their friends and relatives get about the hard job of remaking failing schools.

If those aren't the school board's priorities as well, than DPS has a problem much bigger than it can solve by dumping Calloway.