Words to the Wise

CULTIVATE COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT "Schools in Boston are quite isolated from communities. It's sort of like there is a bubble over the schools, and we need to pop that isolation. Think of all the rich partnerships that exist in this town, the many different nonprofit organizations, the public institutions, the private sector. I think we could do more. Education is not a spectator sport. We all have a role to play in this, and we need to figure out what our contribution is going to be, whether I'm a retired person, whether I'm married with kids in the system or not, whether I'm single and just getting started in my career." Ned Rimer | cofounder and managing director of Citizen Schools, a Boston nonprofit that runs after-school programs

GET PARENTS INVOLVED "We have now, starting this September, 15 full-time family-community outreach coordinators, meaning we have full-time staff to support parents . . . someone who will actually take on and implement some tools: keeping a database of parent engagement, encouraging parents who do not voluntarily come in to participate. What are the barriers? Is it that they don't speak the language? Finding the resources to have successful parent engagement? Out of 139 schools, 15 coordinators doesn't even cover half. But it's a great start." Caprice Taylor Mendez | director, Boston Parent Organizing Network

STAND UP TO STANDARDIZATION "The MCAS is strangling the curriculum. It's stifling creativity, and it's punishing kids who ought not to be punished after going through our schools for 12 years. Who but the superintendent of the major urban area in Massachusetts, who but the superintendent in Boston ought to take a stand on this? The new superintendent, whoever it is, ought to listen to the people who do the work and ask whether or not a one-size-fits-all curriculum is the way to go." Richard Stutman | president of the Boston Teachers Union

MEET THE STUDENTS "We believe that you should listen to us, make a substantial effort to incorporate our thoughts and ideas. We can come to Court Street. You can be available to us. Make time for your students. Just be there as a person we can come to comfortably if we have a topic or issue to settle. As someone we can count on. Being a good listener, [being] caring, having love for his students, being passionate about his job if you don't have those qualities, little can be done." Eleni Saridis | senior at West Roxbury High School, member of the student advisory council and the manager's council, mentor to English language learners, and peer leader

BUILD ON PAST SUCCESSES "Take every opportunity to understand the agenda that the mayor, that the board, and that the current superintendent are working on. We oftentimes, tongue-in-cheek, tell people that, when they're following a legend, don't even change the shades in your office for the first two years. Do what they had been doing, honor that past, and build upon that past. The culture that has been created in the Boston schools a culture of continuous improvement, highly focused on student achievement you want to make sure that that is saved." Tim Quinn | director, Broad Superintendents Academy, a California-based management program for senior executives

STOP BULLIES "It doesn't work to just enforce a rule against fighting, because kids break rules. It's part of being kids. That's why I'm saying people would really get behind a strong effort to reduce bullying and small forms of intimidation that lead up [to fighting]. I think the superintendent would be shocked at the support they would get for a major effort in this direction. That's where the Boston Public Schools were going before MCAS just took center stage and kind of pushed everything aside. But we can do both. In fact, they're complementary. Improving academics and having staff that assure kids they're not going to be bothered while they're doing their work that's complementary." Emmett Folgert | director, Dorchester Youth Collaborative

THINK SMALL "Small schools are a key part of Boston's future. Some of those are going to be charter; some of those are going to be pilot and controlled by the superintendent. There is no major city superintendent left in the any of the top 20 cities in America that isn't trying to create more public-school choice and a portfolio of small, autonomous schools. I think the next superintendent of Boston should try to copy what's working in other places." Michael Goldstein | CEO and founder, Media and Technology Charter High School

KEEP YOUR DOOR OPEN "The next superintendent needs to be someone who understands this is not an autocratic but a collaborative approach. They need to be listening to all the different groups who come to the table with their perspectives on the needs and wants of kids. We have a very solid foundation that we've carefully put in place for systemwide reform and that we want to stay the course. There may be things that can work better. There may be things that can be done differently. But don't change them for the sake of changing them. That won't work, and your tenure will wind up being short." Dr. Elizabeth Reilinger | chair, Boston School Committee

RAISE THE BAR "Right now, for a student to pass [the MCAS] they just need to reach the `needs improvement' level. But we're saying that that's not acceptable. We're saying that our children can do more. Given that they have the appropriate resources and the instruction and good teaching, they can reach the level of `proficiency.' Payzant has talked about it a lot. It's his goal, it's our goal, it's the community's goal. We're hoping that the next superintendent will also see it as his or her goal. If Payzant's successor is wise, he would go in and declare, `I'm going to just build on what is here.' That would lock in his or her success." The Rev. Gregory Groover | spokesman for Community Partners for a New Superintendent and pastor of the Charles Street AME Church

THINK - AND SPEAK - GLOBALLY "I live in East Boston, and the community has changed so much. There are so many Spanish-speaking parents, and it's really difficult for [them] to communicate, get involved, or even understand what is expected in this system. I think this has led to the achievement gap. I think the superintendent needs to look at who's living in the community and what is the highest population or ethnicity or language and then look at how the schools are supporting that administrative-wise, teacher-wise, principal-wise. The whole structure needs to reflect what the community needs. With not having bilingual education anymore, what safety nets [are] these kids getting in order to support them and sustain them, so that when they reach high school, they're not dropping out?" Gloribell Mota | parent and member of the school site council at O'Donnell Elementary School