Leaders are able to communicate a vision of a desirable future. They don’t do all the work- they just point the way.
Dayton Public Schools and the Dayton Board of Education haven’t ever been able to tell the story of why you should send your kids to their schools. You know, the ones with the big fat “F” is every category (except for the one time A in annual yearly progress- which is pretty easy when you are on the bottom.).
The board president believes that the one-to-one computer initiative and computer guided learning is the answer, but, just passing tests, day in and day out, isn’t what school should be.
The new superintendent thinks that changing personnel is part of the solution- never mind the fact that we’ve been losing about 20% of our staff every year.
The community just passed a tax levy to support “the pre-school promise”- as if pre-school is the golden ticket.
We’ve got bigger problems than pre-school in Dayton. Back on Valentines day 2015, I posted A plan for the Dayton Public Schools [1] and it garnered a whole 21 comments (most from the regulars). It had many of the same ideas that are in this video, but, the reality is- half the people read, and half watch TV.
So, here is a video, to show the feeble minded un-marketers at DPS how you effectively tell a story about a vision of what could be (if we were doing the work for them- it would have a different slant- but, since they refuse to hire people who can actually market them- T.F.B.).
Please share. Please discuss. Please do something other than the same old half-baked solutions- because, we’re running out of time for Dayton.
Improving early childhood ed is a good idea, but the problem is far broader and deeper than any single issue. DPS is a disaster. Granted, there are a few bright spots in the system, but they richly deserve a failing grade overall.
State takeover seems like a reasonable option, analogous to an individual or corporation filing for bankruptcy. It’s not good news, and it will be painful, but it might be the wake up call Dayton needs.
Everybody running Dayton says that “EDUCATION IS OUR #1 PRIORITY” and “CHILDREN ARE OUR FUTURE” but mostly their actions don’t support those statements. The ‘burbs have better education for their children because the parents can afford to move to the ‘burbs….because they are better educated and make enough money (via that education) to afford to move to the ‘burbs. They want the same or better for their kids, and understand what is needed.
[…] But, the good Dr. only thinks pre-school and kindergarten matter. Then we come to a longer school day and a longer school year. I put both of those in the video “There ain’t no “F” in Dayton” as well as in this post: A plan for the Dayton Public Schools and the post with the video: There ain’t no “F” in Dayton: Time for DPS to get serious […]