Emanuel Unveils Schools Plan

Chicago mayoral candidate lays out education policy in Sunday speech.

PREPARED REMARKS BY RAHM EMANUEL OUTLINING HIS EDUCATION POLICY

Remarks as prepared

Thank you very much for that wonderful introduction.  I wish my parents were here today.  I don’t think they ever heard such nice words about me from a principal.

I met Principal Hightower during my Tell It Like It Is tour.  She invited me to visit Bethune, which is one of about a dozen Chicago schools I’ve visited so far.  I was very impressed by what Principal Hightower, the teachers and parents have accomplished here since the school turnaround began.

What’s being accomplished at Bethune makes me believe there’s nothing wrong with the Chicago public schools that can’t be cured by what’s right with the Chicago public schools.  The job of the next mayor is to provide the resources and support so dynamic leaders like Principal Hightower and her teachers can bring the tools we need to see excellence in the classroom.

Now, improving schools and access to education is not a new fight for me.  I might not have been the world’s best student – or even the best student in my family.  But my parents always stressed the value of a good education.  In fact, they used to post our report cards on the refrigerator for all our friends and family to see.  It was an early example of transparency that I didn’t really appreciate.  But I took the lesson to heart and now torment my children as my parents did me.

During my six years of representing a good portion of Chicago in Congress, I worked hard to help our local schools.  I brought back federal assistance to strengthen them, and additional money to fund after school programs so that our kids have opportunities for extended learning.

I also won funding to expand the Chicago Teachers Academy and to extend its classes to a new high school.  That school provides a superb education to local students by pairing promising young teachers with experienced mentors.  Those young teachers graduate from the Academy with a Master’s degree in education and a commitment to teach for a minimum of five years in Chicago’s public schools – and 80 percent of those teachers stay beyond the required time.

I’ve also worked hard to make college more accessible for students from working families.  After hearing from Chicago Fire Captain Pat Kehoe about the difficulty of filling out the federal student loan application, I returned to Congress and quickly introduced a bill to simplify that form.  I was proud when President Obama administered these changes – just as I was proud to work with him to consolidate three separate college tax credits into a single higher education credit.

And as President Obama’s chief of staff, I worked closely with Education Secretary Arne Duncan to implement the Race to the Top program, which has ignited a revolution of school reforms in states across the country.  It’s a program I’d like to replicate right here in Chicago.

The fact is that school reform is not just an issue for educators or policymakers.  It’s an issue for residents across our city. What Chicagoans understand fundamentally, in their heart and soul, is that education is, in large part, the answer to our other major challenges.

Educate Chicago’s children, and we can attract the new businesses and good jobs of tomorrow.

Attract more good jobs with higher pay, and that helps our city’s revenue base.

Give young people hope and a future, and we can reduce the attraction of gangs, guns and drugs.

Our goal should be nothing less than ensuring that every child in this city has access to a world-class education, so they can develop their God-given talents, pursue their dreams, and compete and win.

Not only is this critical to their future as individuals.  It’s also critical to Chicago’s future.  You cannot be a world-class city if your schools and students cannot perform at world-class standards.

To his great credit, Mayor Daley understood this – long before education became a focus for other mayors. Mayor Daley’s made a positive difference in the lives of thousands of Chicago children. For his willingness to tackle this huge challenge, he deserves our gratitude and respect.

Mayor Daley would also be the first to tell you that the job is not yet finished. That’s why the next mayor must renew our commitment to pushing reforms that will improve Chicago’s schools and lead an era of reform here at home.

I believe the education of our children stands on three strong pillars: involved parents; dedicated principals; and quality teachers.  Each of these pillars is critical to our students’ success.

Yes, there are other elements of education that are important.  Do we need good, up-to-date school buildings? Yes. Must we keep class size small? Yes. But without a good, qualified teacher, those things cannot guarantee learning.

We must also recognize that this is an era of limited resources.  The CPS budget faces a deficit of hundreds of millions of dollars. Chicagoans who are struggling in this economy simply cannot tolerate higher property taxes.  So we have to set priorities, make some tough decisions, and focus on the fundamentals.

And here’s the truth:  The single most important element of a child’s education is something we cannot legislate, something we cannot fund – it’s an involved and committed parent.  Learning doesn’t begin at the schoolhouse door; it starts at the front door of the home.

Our teachers simply cannot succeed without parents as partners.  And while government must do its part, it’s no substitute for a committed parent.  Government can’t teach children right from wrong or the consequences of bad choices.  And government can’t convince children of the value of an education.  That is the job of a parent.

So one of the most important things we can do to keep school reform moving forward in Chicago is to expect, encourage and entice every parent to get involved.  This requires that we provide them with more information.  There’s no reason the report cards that principals receive today showing their school’s performance should not be shared with the parents whose children go to that school.  Parents deserve to know what the principals know. And if I’m mayor, they will.

But parents have to do their part, as well. If they find their children stuck in a school that simply isn’t doing the job, we should empower them to force the needed changes.

I believe we should consider allowing a majority of parents to legally force a failing school’s transformation – through administrative changes, bringing in a new operator, or by shutting it down and starting over with a charter, a school of excellence, or any other model that the community chooses.  We simply cannot tolerate schools that fail year after year after year.

Giving parents this power would encourage them to play a larger role in their children’s education.  And with greater power would come greater responsibility.

We should also be the first city in the nation to institute parent-teacher contracts at the beginning of the school year.  Those contracts will commit each parent to helping in their child’s education by limiting the hours spent on TV and video games, and by reading together for a set amount of time each week.

We’ll start with the parents of children in pre-K and kindergarten, and then look to expand it.  We’ll empower parents with a fuller knowledge of their school’s performance, and ask more of them in return.

I call this a new grand bargain: more accountability with more responsibility.

Good schools like Bethune don’t discourage parental involvement.  In fact, they demand it.

And good principals, like Ms. Hightower, don’t duck accountability; they embrace it.

We need to ensure that every public school in Chicago has a dedicated principal who’s not afraid to make changes or look for new ways to succeed.  We should give them the independence they need and, in return, hold them personally accountable for their school’s performance.

As mayor, I would seek to implement a performance contract for each school in the CPS system.  We’ll be the first city in the nation to adopt such a district-wide plan.

These five-year contracts between each principal and CPS would set clear expectations for student achievement – and hold the principal accountable for the results.  Such performance contracts have helped spur improvements in alternative public schools in Chicago and across the nation, but now we will be the first to implement it in every school.

It’s time to spell out our expectations for every single public school in Chicago and challenge our principals and teachers to meet them.

Setting explicit performance goals will provide an incentive for principals to hire the very best teachers.  Under my plan, CPS would set a minimum qualification standard for every teacher and pre-approve a pool of effective teachers for hiring each year so that principals can hire the best of the best.

Finally, we will further incentivize principals to innovate and improve their schools by initiating a local version of President Obama’s Race to the Top program.

As Mayor, I will help personally raise 30 million dollars every year from our business and philanthropic communities, and challenge schools across the city to compete for this money. If we can raise 75 million dollars in an effort to host the Olympic Games, we can raise a fraction of that amount to reward local schools and parents that excel.

The ideas and programs of the winning schools will be shared with all other schools in the system.  In this way, every school can benefit from this new Chicago Education Innovation Fund.

The final pillar of education reform is putting a quality teacher in every classroom.  There are many effective, hard-working teachers in classrooms all across Chicago who are doing tremendous work. I see them every week when I visit schools. And many are often under difficult conditions. Those teachers deserve our gratitude, our appreciation and our respect.

We need to retain these good teachers, and attract others like them by rewarding them for superior performance. That’s why I will push to create a new salary scale for teachers so that the best of the best can reach top compensation in eight years.  The most effective teachers, based on student performance, will qualify for bonuses if they transfer to a low-performing school. It’s time to finally start treating our teachers like the professionals they are and reward them for excellence, just like they would be rewarded for excelling in any other profession.

To help teachers improve, we’ll double the number of slots in our urban teacher residency programs.  This will double the number of academies from 7 to 14 and create an expanding corps of 160 top-flight teachers each year – all committed to spending a minimum of five years in Chicago’s public schools.

Finally, it’s difficult for Chicago teachers to impart the knowledge and skills their students require when our children spend less time in the classroom than just about anywhere else in the nation.

Think about a young girl starting kindergarten here in Chicago while her cousin begins school in Houston. Twelve years later they both graduate from high school – one in Houston and one in Chicago. But the cousin in Houston will have spent the equivalent of four more years in a classroom than the girl who graduated from Chicago’s public schools. Four more years. The equivalent of a full high school education. This is unacceptable – our children will never lead with that huge deficit of time in the classroom.  And it puts Chicago at a disadvantage in attracting new businesses and their knowledge-based jobs.

So, as mayor, I will work with teachers and non-profit organizations to expand early childhood education programs, extend the school day and lengthen the school year.  The extra instruction time will help our teachers meet the academic goals we expect from our students.

To oversee these ambitious changes, the next mayor will need a strong and effective partner in the CEO for the schools.  There has been much discussion about the appropriate experience for this position.  Should it be a professional educator? Or someone from a business background?

In my view, this is a false choice.

The next schools CEO cannot be an educator without strong leadership ability.  Nor can it be – or should it be – a businessperson without a thorough knowledge of education and a zeal for reform. I am confident that we can find an individual who combines both of these attributes – and I will.

The ideas I’ve laid out here today will keep Chicago in the forefront of school reform in our nation.

The first city to spur innovation by creating an innovation fund to reward schools that try revolutionary methods to involve parents, train and support teachers, and get student results in new ways. The first city to hold every principal accountable by having them agree to a performance contract. The first city to give parents the power to turn their child’s school around. And the first city to adopt new college- and career-ready curriculum so that our children graduate with the knowledge to succeed.

Some call Chicago the second city. On education, we will be the first.

Implementing these reforms won’t be easy. Meaningful change never is.

It requires a strong partnership among parents, teachers and principals.

It requires cooperation from leaders of business and labor.

It requires the personal commitment of every parent of a child in our public schools.

Most of all, it requires a mayor who has the vision and determination to inspire a new bargain that gives greater accountability to principals, teachers and parents, but is demanding more responsibility.

Despite budget pressures and social problems, the goal of keeping Chicago in the forefront of school reform and innovation is not beyond our reach.

A generation ago, the U.S. Education Secretary called Chicago’s public schools the worst in the nation. Today, the Education Secretary comes from Chicago – because we had the courage and leadership to confront a system that was broken.

I want to end where we began – with Ms. Hightower and the kids at Bethune. Just a few years ago in this very same building with the very same kids was a failing school. Today, math scores for fifth-graders have doubled.  So has the number of third-graders who meet or exceed ISAT reading standards.  The difference? A new vision, a new level of leadership, a new quality of teachers. And a better future for our kids.

There’s nothing more important for Chicago – or for Chicago’s next mayor.

Thank you.

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