Interview with Robert Jasna, Deputy Superintendent, Milwaukee Public Schools
Five years ago, when Robert Peterkin became the superintendent of schools for Milwaukee, he was charged withimplementing fundamental changes in the structure of the Milwaukee Public Schools. People felt that the school system was too big and unmanageable and that many schools were not meeting the needs of students and the community. The State Legislature and the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction vowed that, if change did not occur, they would reorganize the Milwaukee Public Schools system. In response, Peterkin created several task forces to examine the system. These task forces reported to a centralized body that developed a plan for the superintendent. The plan subsequently was approved by the Board of School Directors.
It took Peterkin's group about one year to develop and implement the plan. One highlight of the plan was the division of the schools into six Service Delivery Areas, each with its own community superintendent who was responsible for high schools, middle schools, and elementary schools. This structure existed for two years.
Also during Peterkin's time as superintendent, the K-12 Teaching and Learning Initiative was developed. The initiative included the identification of goals and performance indicators for grades K-12. Assessment of progress would occur at the primary, intermediate, middle school, and high school levels.
When Peterkin resigned and Howard Fuller was hired, the community superintendent system was eliminated. "The Service Delivery Area system, it was felt, was not working successfully; so we reverted to a system that would encourage the development of a 'system of schools' in which individual schools retain local control but are under the governance of a single superintendent." Under this system, principals have control over their budgets, including personnel decisions. The central office equitably allots money to each principal, who determines the budget line items according to his/her school's needs. The rationale for this new structure holds that schools can make decisions necessary for student success, while remaining part of a larger school system. The primary goals of the system, now in its second year, are to empower each school and to ensure accountability for increased student achievement.
The same goals drove the implementation of school choice and the creation of the Chapter 220 Plan. This inter-district transfer plan provides yet another avenue of school choice. Milwaukee participates in the Chapter 220 Integration Settlement Agreement with 23 suburban school districts.
"While waivers of certain Board policies, additional funding, and inservice training are part of a comprehensive program to decentralize services, it is not until you permit principals, staffs, and the community actually to control their budget that true empowerment, and in turn, decentralization occur. This process needs the total involvement of all of the stakeholders to ensure initial and continuous success."
Bureaucracy "The existing bureaucracy often is cited as an obstacle to changing the governance of a school district. People are resistant to change. And how do you change bureaucracy? We were never good at getting information past the first several layers of central office staff down to the teachers. By flattening the organization and including principals at the cabinet level, we are reducing the `bureaucracy' obstacle."
Attitudes "There are serious consequences if nothing new is done, but there's also a lack of support for change because there's always someone who feels you are not going in the right direction. Remember, change is unsettling. We are trying to overcome this obstacle by emphasizing the `support' aspect of the central office. We are gradually changing people's attitudes about the central office as a source of mandates to a central office that is a source for service."
Support "My greatest recommendation for changing local, state, or federal policies in order to enable and strengthen decentralization efforts in a school district is to provide support. You have to support people who are risk takers. Let them try. Even if they fail, we all learn from it. Too often, we pass judgment before we see results."
Patience "Policymakers need to have patience with school districts that are trying to change. When you're talking about major change, you are talking about four to five years. Too often, we want everything done immediately, and if we don't see results, we consider the effort a failure."
Posted on April 26, 1995
URL: http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/envrnmnt/go/93-1milw.htm