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MONTHLY NEWSLETTER: AUGUST 2006 ISSUE
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ARE YOU GETTING THE MOST OUT OF YOUR BOARD?
BY Judy Burton, Alliance for College-Ready Public Schools
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So your board has high expectations for your school. Do you have high expectations for your board? The Alliance for College-Ready Public Schools, a nonprofit charter management organization committed to creating high performing, small college-ready middle and high schools in Los Angeles, succeeds in part because it has a governing Board of Directors committed to the high expectations that we ask of them. Our board is comprised of leaders, movers and shakers within the Los Angeles community who have consistently demonstrated their commitment through their leadership, time and contributions of over $2 million during the first two years of our focus on charter schools.
Chaired by Frank Baxter, Chairman Emeritus of Jefferies & Company, our board’s support and involvement is unmatched. Our board also includes a former president of Anne Klein, a former mayor of Los Angeles, the president of the California State University Los Angeles, former president of Occidental College, Chairman Emeritus of the Getty Foundation and many other highly qualified individuals with expertise to provide solid direction to make things happen. While our structure is unique to our mission of creating many schools, we’ve learned lessons along the way that would help any charter school board.
Ask community leaders to play a greater role. Not every school is able to draw in these kinds of heavy hitters, but a critical lesson is not to be afraid to ask the high profile leaders in your community to become part of your mission by serving on the charter board. Individuals from all walks of life want to see our public school system succeed and are waiting to get involved. Believe it or not, many are never approached. The talent in your community is out there. Make it happen.
Make student achievement a top priority. Do you have clear ways of defining success that your board can get behind? Ensure that every board member is passionate about supporting them. We measure our success through multiple objectives:
Students who are consistently enrolled in an Alliance school for at least four years will be prepared for college and will pass the University of California/California State University A-G course requirements.
97 percent will graduate from high school, and 100 percent of graduates will be accepted into a college/university.
Students will meet annual academic growth targets and significantly outperform neighboring Los Angeles schools in proficient to advanced performance on California Content Standards.
Cultivate a board with a diversity of expertise. Our board works not only because of each individual’s personal commitment to our core mission, but also because of the tremendous diversity of leadership expertise each director brings to the table in the areas of business, finance, education, university, legal, real estate, philanthropy, civic commitment, community activism and parent community outreach. If you’re not getting the most out of your board, look at their skill-sets and areas of expertise. Does it reflect a broad range of expertise?
Publicly involve your board members. Are you giving your board members community visibility? Every school needs the external credibility that can be developed through publicly recognizing your board. All our board members see themselves as part of a larger education reform movement. We make sure that they share in ours, and the movement’s successes. Do you invite your board members to public events or ribbon cutting ceremonies? When you announce a new board
member’s participation, how about a public event with all stakeholders, from parents, to teachers and students participating in the celebration? This honors your new board member and is a perfect way to ingrain to them the magnitude of their responsibilities.
With the support of our board, our first high school significantly outperformed LAUSD and neighboring high schools on the 2005 API and achieved a 95 percent average daily attendance. We successfully opened one continuing and three new schools in our communities this August. Through the Board’s stewardship the Alliance is on target for opening 20 public charter school academies by 2010. In 2006, the Alliance will open at least three new charter schools serving overcrowded, underperforming target communities in Los Angeles.
Whether your charter school serves a rural town of 700, or a major metropolitan area of millions like Los Angeles, there are high-level individuals within your community just waiting to play a greater role. Get them
engaged.
Judy Burton, President/CEO, Alliance for College-Ready Public Schools
Visit the Alliance at www.laalliance.org
Reprinted from “The Charter Journal”
Mission Statement: The mission of the California Charter Schools Association is to increase student achievement by supporting and expanding California’s quality public charter school movement
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