On Monday, something happened that I haven’t seen or heard of since I started working for the district more than 22 years ago. Principals and assistant principals from all parts of Chicago attended a meeting of the Chicago Board of Education to give direct feedback to the Board about the way schools are rated in our district.
What happened on Monday had its roots in a meeting I had last summer with Board member, Dwayne Truss. During that meeting, I talked with him about the concerns and issues of school leaders (staffing, SQRP, compensation). He responded by telling me, “I support what you’re trying to do but we (the board) are not likely to address those issues unless you organize your principals to put pressure on us.” So when Board member Amy Rome reached out to me last week to invite CPAA to the Board’s SQRP review meeting, I reached out to dozens of principals and assistant principals.
We came together on Sunday to brainstorm and plan our input. Then, on Monday, more than 20 school leaders attended the meeting and shared our critiques of SQRP and our hopes for a better school assessment system.
About 12 to 15 tables were filled with parents, community members, and teachers who were there to give their input as well. Principals and assistant principals were there to ensure there was an administrator voice at every table. After the meeting, Mr. Truss came to me and said, “The most powerful voice tonight came from the testimony of a principal! I told you, you have to organize your members because they have the most powerful voices. We need to hear them.” The “most powerful voice” he was referring to was that of a high school principal who clearly and passionately articulated the detrimental impact that the existing school rating system can have on a school community that serves students with the most challenges and the greatest needs.
While our input at the Board meeting was a seminal moment, that was not the sole reason we came together. We came together as part of a larger effort to develop our own ideal system for assessing school effectiveness. Our ultimate goal is to develop that system and have the Board adopt it in place of SQRP. We also want to support one another as we navigate the existing school rating system. Click here to see a summary of our first meeting.
Click here to hear Board member Truss’s critiques of SQRP at the June 26, 2019 Board meeting.
CPAA will continue our work to ensure your voices are heard in regard to the issues that matter to school leaders. If you are interested in joining the SQRP Working Group, contact us at info@mycpaa.com.
