Two decades of experience with performance contracting in the delivery of public education has wrought some hard earned lessons. We know what good authorizing looks like. We know how to open great new schools.
What if we put these to recently developed capabilities together? Here’s a radical idea: what is every school operated under a performance contract and
with a board that supports the schools mission? A system of performance contracting, with local and state authorization, could provide an effective
accountability system and would result in more high quality options for families. Some schools could operate as part of a multi-campus network and wouldn’t
require their own board. But that’s still lots of good board members supporting good schools. That’s why I recently joined the board of Charter Board Partners (CBP) -- to promote quality at scale by recruiting and training great boards for great
schools.
Perpetual governance has a better chance of sustaining the common intellectual mission of a great school or network than political governance, which is
prone to oscillation. The most promising urban districts of the last decade saw boards swing, superintendents fired, and a harsh reversion to the mean of
miserable performance and status quo agreements. The Fordham Institute seems to be the only one paying attention to this root problem of the anachronistic
patchwork of American education governance (read their report on rethinking education governance.)
By perpetual governance, I’m referring to that which is common in the nonprofit world and private enterprise -- board members recruited for their ability to
support and advance a mission. That makes it much easier to recruit and sustain a team and an improvement and expansion agenda. CBP believes, “A highly
effective charter school board believes in and commits to the mission of the school, and understands that if the school is to achieve its mission, the
board must:
Focus relentlessly on student achievement
Recruit and retain an exceptional leaders
Invest in exemplary governance
Act strategically and hold the board accountable
Raise and use resources wisely; and
Commit steadfastly to legal and regulatory compliance”
CBP measures board effectiveness, provides tailored support, and helps recruit new board members. CBP is focused on Washington D.C. but has broader impact
agenda.
As noted by the charter authorizers association last week
as many as a fifth of charters should be non-renewed because they perform no better than traditional schools. The fact that we can have that conversation
is the good news. That’s how the system should work. Schools should earn the right to continue to receive public funding. Recruiting and training good
board members is part of the equation.
We need more good schools. Good schools have good boards. That’s why I support Charter Board Partners.