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The Durant Factor
By Steve Flagg,
Guest Column
There are
many of us in Toledo who admire and respect TPS
Superintendent Romules Durant, Ed.D. He along with his
predecessor – Jerome Pecko, Ed.D - have done an excellent
job of repairing TPS’ reputation by re-establishing trust,
integrity and honesty to TPS operations after a battering
from overinflated and unfilled promises as well as efforts
to manipulate district and school report card results
through attendance scrubbing.
In Durant,
TPS has an enthusiastic superintendent. He has arguably the
best pedigree with a local flavor since Crystal Ellis. He
was in my opinion the single most influential factor in the
2013 TPS renewal levy that passed with almost 64 percent of
the vote. In the last decade, only the 2008 renewal levy has
come close to garnering that type of support.
He is the
best marketing tool TPS has to “sell” the upcoming $66.5 M
levy ($13.3 M per year for five years). TPS officials know
that from the polling and market research conducted and he
is the centerpiece of this fall’s levy marketing campaign
tirelessly going wherever to deliver his sermon even though
the Board handed him a very weak case.
Many will
vote for the TPS levy this fall because of the relationships
Durant has created and his demonstrated commitment to
Toledo. Toledo is better because of his efforts and
especially his work with minority youth.
But – and
you knew one was coming – is the admiration, passion, energy
and pride he brings to TPS and the superintendency reason
enough to vote for a rather large new levy whose funds will
be used for two primary purposes: restoring student bus
transportation to pre-2008 levels and providing for teacher
and administrator salary increases?
If all you
had to do was bank on the goodwill, passion and energy of
Durant, this would be an easy choice.
Before we
vote based upon the “Durant Factor” we all have to ask if he
can deliver on the promise of better student outcomes
through passage of this levy.
The
ability of the superintendent to affect change is hamstrung
by two groups: the Toledo Board of Education and the Toledo
Federation of Teachers.
The Board
is a five member elected body. This board is responsible for
all contracts and policies under state law. The
superintendent has no vote and can only influence policy and
implement board directives. Three of the current five
members have already sought office beyond the Board. To win
office in Toledo both funds and endorsements are critical
and a major TPS union – the TFT – has been active on both
fronts.
The Board
is heavily influenced by the local Democratic Party in which
the TFT has been a major player for years. In the last
election, two past and still involved presidents of the TFT
were on the screening committee for school board
endorsements. The TFT has also been a major source of funds
and volunteers for school board candidates. In last year’s
election, two TFT backed candidates received over $18K
(about 70 percent of funds raised) through the TFT and much
of the remaining campaign funds came from individuals and
organizations affiliated with the TFT.
Because of
political ambitions and the dominance of the TFT in school
board politics, the Board for the last 40 years has for all
practical purposes ceded control of the district to the
teachers union. It’s so bad today that the superintendent
has very little control over the most valuable asset a
school district has – teacher quality in the classroom.
Assignment of teachers is controlled by a seniority driven
process in the TFT contract. Teachers have control over how
students are assigned to classrooms. Further the contract
inhibits the professional development process – a critical
component in improving teacher quality and capacity – which
contributes to a costly and ineffective system for improving
TPS’ most important resource.
The coup
de grace is a past practices clause in the TFT contract that
states, “The Board agrees not to adopt any other policies
that would in any way negate or change the policies set
forth herein. Past policies not amended or altered remain in
effect. The
Board’s
Policies, Laws, and By-laws will be revised to conform with
these negotiations.” Anything ever agreed to by any past or
current Board is policy and practice and any change requires
union approval.
Durant’s
role is severely handcuffed by the unions and board in any
effort to truly effect student outcomes through deployment
of his greatest resource – quality teachers.
Can Durant
effect change? Does he have a supportive board ready to take
the hard steps necessary to move forward? Can he expect to
win over union officials and implement suggestions such as
those in the recent performance audit? Will the intended
purposes of the levy proceeds actually result in better
student outcomes?
Before you
vote, think about those questions and don’t let emotions
overtake logic. We all want to support Durant but we all
need to be active participants in supporting him rather than
just stand on the sidelines if we ever hope to achieve
superior student outcomes.
Steven Flagg is a community activist with more than 20 years
of experience in education advocacy including monitoring
Toledo Public Schools’ policies, practices and operations.
You can find more information on this subject and more at
TPSinfo.com com or on Twitter @sgflagg.
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