Collaborative relationships between schools and their communities

Website design By BotEap.comAt the heart of American democracy is the notion that community problems cannot be left solely to policy makers and other leaders. Citizens must participate, either directly or by choosing who represents their beliefs. Democracy is more than just a belief in the importance of basic human rights such as equality, freedom, opportunity, and the pursuit of happiness. For 244 years, Americans have responded to democracy’s wake-up call: come together to solve problems openly and thoughtfully. More recently, devolution (the shift of major activities and services from federal to local control) has reinforced the belief that local communities can and should solve their own problems. This shift in power and responsibility has created a new demand for services and supports at the state and local level. Across a wide range of issues – health, wellness, education, and economic development – communities strive to improve the ability to collectively solve problems. But often, a community’s ability to solve problems is challenged by changing demographics, disconnected citizens, fragmented public policies, and an uneven distribution of resources. Local responsibility for healthy, productive and successful schools requires different types of collaborative relationships between schools and their communities. Community organizations are often catalysts for bringing people together. They provide services and supports that once came from the government. They serve to organize and mobilize groups strategically towards specific actions, results and objectives. Community organizations are not political entities, but represent the beliefs of their members and often add value to the political and political debate. They represent democracy in action. Solving local problems requires new relationships, decisions, behaviors, and norms. Once developed, community leaders and residents can move towards long-term sustainable change.

Website design By BotEap.comA recent survey reported that the vast majority of Americans have a long-standing commitment to improving schools for all children. Americans view their public schools as the centers around which community life revolves and recognize that quality public schools have immeasurable value. Public schools are the key to the well-being of our communities and our future prosperity as a nation. The health of public schools is a barometer of our democratic lifestyle. We believe that community demand for change is critical, particularly in low-income communities, where schools are failing and students are not succeeding. Where the education system is not working, the public needs to claim responsibility for community change. The public not only has the right to demand high quality in their schools; it also has a responsibility to improve and protect public education. But in the same communities where students face the most barriers to achieving high standards and meeting new academic requirements, residents often drop out of their schools. Many community members have given up on their local schools, feeling they have no control over the quality of the school. Indifference, disappointment, and outright hostility between parents or other community members and educators often replace dialogue, common goals, and collaboration. For more than 16 years, Local Education Funds (LEFs) have helped create sustainable change in public education systems across the country. As independent community organizations, LEFs work with local communities and school districts to design collaborative solutions that improve public schools and promote student achievement. They have played the role of conveners, intermediaries and coordinators of school reform activities. LEFs have built school-community partnerships, leveraged resources, and spearheaded community action to improve individual public schools and entire school districts.

Website design By BotEap.comMore local education funds have developed a body of knowledge on local resource mobilization and public participation to support long-term and systemic solutions to public education problems. This historical perspective has deepened the understanding of what it takes to create a community with new relationships, norms, and problem-solving capabilities and has led to new thinking about a framework of strategic interventions for community change. These interventions are expressions of democracy. If citizens are truly going to help define what they want for their public schools, and if they are to act to help achieve those ends for all students, it is important to bring them together to articulate their beliefs, goals, and areas of shared understanding. In public dialogue, citizens can agree on goals for their public schools and community and develop plausible local strategies to work toward those goals. Community dialogue presents opportunities to educate communities on important concepts: how the education system works, meaningful data showing how effective the system is, and what constitutes quality education. With a new common understanding, citizens can develop a collective commitment to improve their public schools. It is not enough to talk; Public dialogue must be structured to produce action-oriented results. Participation opportunities broaden the diversity of people involved and renew their commitment to common goals. In many cases, dialogue serves to generate expectations for community change. Knowledge gathered in public forums informs and convinces people of the need to advocate for specific actions to improve public schools. Local education funds often serve as convenors and facilitators in this work. LEFs do not convene community conversations and dialogues simply to present a point of view. Instead, they create opportunities for dialogue by building effective partnerships between community organizations, schools, faith groups, elected officials, and citizens. Forums for this dialogue include strategic planning processes, city meetings, and education roundtables. Local education funds face the challenges of moving communities from speech to action and engaging the right stakeholders at the right time. Often times, as coordinators, LEFs also need to mediate deeply held and divisive beliefs for the dialogue to be productive.