Maya Martin Cadogan: Leadership of our schools starts with building trust with our families

Prior to the mayor’s selection of former DC Public Schools Chancellor Antwan Wilson in November 2016, many families expressed disappointment in the community engagement process. Although families and students are the ones most affected by leadership changes, they did not feel they were consulted in the final decision. Nor did the weight given to their input in earlier stages reflect the weight of their role in our system.

More than half of our children attending public schools are enrolled in DCPS, and many of their parents are choosing options outside of their own neighborhood — selective high schools, specialized programs or other out-of-boundary options. School choice means that parents have to decide where to send their children to school and where to put their trust in the system that educates them. That trust is not easily earned, but it can be easily broken when parents see officials fail to care for and nurture our most precious gift: our children.

This time, DCPS parents like Asia Ransome, DaSean Jones and Olivia Chase are hoping things will be different. They hope the new chancellor is someone they can trust and who will value parents advocating for the futures of their children.

Here are their thoughts about the search process and what they want to see in the next DCPS leader:

 

Asia Ransome

“It’s important to start within the community,” said Ransome, a Ward 5 parent leader whose child attends John Burroughs Elementary School. “I think that parents should have a say in who the next chancellor will be.”

At the chancellor-search forum at Brookland Middle School on Sept. 11, her priorities for the new chancellor started with cultural acknowledgement: “I want the new chancellor to understand the diversity of DC’s different schools and communities. … He or she must have respect for the different cultures within those communities, be able to interact with parents and families, and be open-minded about how to improve the schools within them.”

Ransome also wants a leader who embodies “fairness, authenticity, courageousness and reliability,” emphasizing a focus on “helping improve the communication between parents and schools.”

 

DaSean Jones

Jones, a Ward 8 parent leader who graduated from Anacostia High School and whose eldest daughter attends Columbia Heights Educational Campus, had positive feelings about the forum at Savoy Elementary School on Aug. 28: “It was a very warming experience to see my community being asked what they would like to see in the new chancellor. As a native Washingtonian and parent of four children, this was my first experience feeling like I was a part of the selection process.”

Jones explained why sharing his voice was important to him. “I believe every parent is dedicated to helping change the face of DC public schools. I was pleased to hear other parents use words like community, equity and experience, and call for a leader with ties to DC.

“I believe all of that is important,” he said. “However, the most important thing to me is having a person who has a plan that’s all-inclusive of the parents, the teachers and the public.”

 

Olivia Chase

Chase, guardian of her grandson who is enrolled at Hyde-Addison Elementary School, attended the Ward 1 Education Town Hall hosted by Ward 1 DC Council member Brianne Nadeau on Sept. 17.

For Chase, nothing is more important than how involved our leaders are in our schools and communities. “When we have a chancellor who is engaged, parents want to be engaged as well. As parents in a system, we understand one another’s importance. … When our leaders are enthusiastically engaged with the community, our community is engaged with each other.”

Like Ransome and Jones, Chase wants a leader who values feedback as much as progress. The chancellor “needs to be accessible and communicative with families in all eight wards. They need to be able to relate to the issues that are unique to the many different families we have here. We need a chancellor who is willing to go to every ward and hear from every parent.”

 

So what now?

These sentiments echo what we’ve heard from dozens of parents who attended the forums, and from hundreds of parent leaders across DC. It’s clear that parents do not want to see the community engagement process end once our next DCPS chancellor is selected. Parents want to be — and are ready to be — partners with our education leaders in shaping the future of our city.

Having leaders listen to parents and families during the selection process is one example of how parent voices can — and should — drive the change we need in our schools. But real, significant and sustainable progress occurs when our leaders prioritize continuous communication and engagement with students, families and educators.

As parents like Ransome, Jones and Chase know, it’s time to put that vision into practice. The next chancellor must rebuild the sense of trust that our families have lost in our education system if we’re going to succeed in our efforts to build a city with great schools for every child in every ward and community.

Maya Martin Cadogan is founder and executive director of Parents Amplifying Voices for Education (PAVE), a nonprofit focused on creating a DC public education system made with families.

This post has been updated to correct a reference to the proportion of students attending DC Public Schools.