The Motor City’s K-12 education system has been collapsing for decades. Efforts to reverse this trend have been met with failure and frustration. Can renewed action lead to different results? Can fresh reforms—focused on human capital, accountability, and new school creation, and driven by courageous leadership and effective philanthropy—deliver for
Detroit’s students?
From Rust to Renaissance
A Moment of Opportunity for Detroit?
A K-12 Education Event for Donors
Detroit, MI * Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Hosted by The Philanthropy Roundtable, The Skillman Foundation,
and Council of Michigan Foundations
Click here to view opening PowerPoint presentation on Detroit's K-12 Education Landscape
Click here to view Audience Polling Results
Click here to view Urban School Reform Toolkit
Click here to view luncheon PowerPoint presentation on School Reform in New Orleans
Click here to view the site visit description
Powerful unions, a shriveling tax and human capital base, plummeting population, and high unemployment: few cities embody the challenges of urban education as fully as Detroit. Last year, the Detroit Public Schools posted the worst NAEP scores—ever. Education Secretary Arne Duncan compared Detroit to “New Orleans . . . without Hurricane Katrina.”
The Motor City’s rock-bottom educational outcomes are understandable—but not excusable, and not intractable. A critical mass of funders and reformers in Detroit are now connecting with high-performing urban education reformers across the country, opening a window of opportunity for the city’s troubled schools—and a moment of hope for its neglected students.
On March 31, over 80 donors gathered for From Rust to Renaissance: A Moment of Opportunity for Detroit? to explore how local and national donors can transform learning in Detroit by jump-starting an open market of high-quality, competitive schools.
Speakers Included:
Tonya Allen, vice president, program, Skillman Foundation
Harrison Blackmond, director, Democrats For Education Reform—Michigan
Robert Bobb, emergency financial manager, Detroit Public Schools
Aaron Brenner, head of primary schools, Houston KIPP SHINE Prep
Sharlonda Buckman, executive director, Detroit Parent Network
Matt Candler, former CEO, New Schools for New Orleans; former chairman, Louisiana Association of Public Charter Schools; project manager, Center for Charter School Excellence in Tennessee
Michael Flanagan, state superintendent of public instruction, Michigan
Howard Fuller, founder and director, Institute for the Transformation of Learning
Lou Glazer, president, Michigan Future, Inc.
James Goenner, executive director, Center for Charter Schools, Central Michigan University
Carol Goss, president and CEO, Skillman Foundation
Steven Gray, correspondent, Time Inc. Detroit
David Harris, president and CEO, The Mind Trust
Kira Orange Jones, executive director, Teach For America Greater New Orleans
Haven Ladd, partner, The Parthenon Group
Joseph Lehman, president, Mackinac Center for Public Policy
Bruno Manno, senior advisor, Walton Family Foundation
Deborah McGriff, partner, NewSchools Venture Fund
Paul Pastorek, state superintendent of education, Louisiana
Dan Quisenberry, president, Michigan Association of Public School Academies
Doug Ross, superintendent and founder, University Prep Academy
James H. Shelton III, assistant deputy secretary for innovation and improvement, U.S. Department of Education
Conference Agenda:
7:00 am – 9:00 am
Optional Site Visit to University Prep Charter High School
9:00 am – 9:30 am
Registration and Networking
9:30 am – 10:30 am
Opening Plenary: Detroit’s Moment of Opportunity
Last year, the Detroit Public Schools posted the worst NAEP scores in history. Education Secretary Arne Duncan compared Detroit to “New Orleans . . . without Hurricane Katrina.” As more and more people leave Detroit, its student population continues to plummet, and 40 DPS schools will close this year. From intransigent unions and weak governance to long-term structural problems in the region’s economy, Detroit embodies all the struggles of urban school districts. But it leaves an opening for strategic philanthropy: the creation of an open market for high-quality, competitive schools that will help kids achieve. At this session, speakers will outline the challenges facing K–12 education in Detroit—and how donors can begin to meet them.
10:30 – 10:45 am
Networking Break
10:45 am – 12:00 pm
A Donor’s Toolkit for Urban School Reform
Donors ready to build an open market of high-quality schools have an array of tools at their disposal, many of which have been proven successful in other urban centers. These include developing charter school networks, attracting talented teachers and principals, engaging parents in the schools’ work, and promoting school choice and advocacy. Panelists at this session will offer the nuts and bolts of urban school reform, from raising capital and acquiring facilities to attracting students and overcoming opposition.
12:15 pm – 1:45 pm
Luncheon
Lessons in Starting Over: What Detroit Can Learn from New Orleans
When Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast, it wiped out something you wouldn’t have thought could get any worse: New Orleans Public Schools. But Katrina’s wake left an opportunity to build, from scratch, a high-quality urban education system. Using legislation passed before the hurricane, the Recovery School District (a special district administered directly by the state) took over disastrous schools with a mandate to transform them. The open playing field ignited local reformers and attracted some of the nation’s leading education entrepreneurs to New Orleans. At nearly 70 percent, the market share of charter schools in New Orleans is the highest in the nation. Reform leaders from Louisiana will report on New Orleans’ progress toward transforming its schools—and what lessons Detroit can glean from the recovery on the Gulf.
2:00 pm – 3:00 pm
Taking Ownership: A Community-Wide Plan for Detroit to Beat the Odds?
With the recent release of Taking Ownership: Our Pledge to Educate All of Detroit’s Children, donors have a foundation for achieving reform through collaboration. Speakers at this session will discuss the new plan, which calls for a focus on students over institutions, fast action, high standards and accountability for failing to meet them, and attracting new talent. They will also discuss what donors can do to achieve these ambitious goals by 2020—and why Detroit’s moment of opportunity has arrived.
For more information about this event, please contact Anthony Pienta, deputy director of k-12 education programs at apienta@PhilanthropyRoundtable.org.
