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Roundtable News, December 3, 2021

  • "The whole people must take upon themselves the education of the whole people and be willing to bear the expenses of it."      
John Adams
President of the United States (1797-1801)
The Schlechty-Roundtable Partnership
The Schlechty Center's Steve McCammon and the Roundtable's James Harvey discuss the merger of the two organizations with Larry Jacobs on EdTalkRadio.

The Roundtable Steering Committee selected Schlechty following an intense two-year exploration of more than a dozen potential legacy partners, reported Harvey. And Schlechty is committed to continuing Roundtable's mission and values, said McCammon.
How education will shape 2022 elections
Politico's Juan Perez Jr. provides a rundown on how educational issues and races are likely to have an impact on the 2022 election.

Here are the key issues he points to as significant markers:

  • The atmosphere for upcoming elections for state superintendents and local school board members.
  • Polling from Virginia showing that swing voters were motivated by anti-racial equity issues.
  • School safety issues in the face of a growing number of incidents of bullying, hate speech, and sexual misconduct.
What new teachers need
At Education Week, Elizabeth Heubeck has a piece on the troubles facing new teachers. One study showed that 10% of new teachers quit after the first year, and many of those who stay are struggling.

The major culprits seem to be classroom management protocols and inadequate preparation for classroom environments in teacher training programs, reports Heubeck. These ongoing issues are exacerbated with the new difficulty of children returning to a classroom after an extended period of remote learning amidst COVID-19.

The point: Any new job is hard, but in education the stakes are too high to let new teachers flounder.
Superintendents step down after harrowing year
At USC Rossier School of Education's magazine, Kianoosh Hashemzadeh interviews Janice Jackson, Austin Beutner, and Richard Carranza, the now-former superintendents of Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York, respectively, about their experiences leading the country's largest urban districts and the factors that caused them to step down.

Among the lessons they learned: It's always harder on the inside than it looks from the outside. You can't know how deeply entrenched segregation and inequities are until you're responsible for dealing with them. And large urban districts are bigger than many municipalities, with all the attendant challenges and competing interests that accompany size.

[It's hard to resist the temptation to ask critics secure in think tanks and on college campuses: Since you know how to do a better job, what's keeping you from sending in your application?]
Oregon is losing female superintendents. Why?
A recent report commissioned by the Oregon Department of Education and two education groups finds that gender gaps in hiring and retention have caused losses in the state's population of women superintendents, reports Alex Baumhardt for Oregon Capital Chronicle.

The report found that 6 of 10 women superintendents reported experiencing bias in the hiring process. Of 29 superintendent openings in the state this year, just 8 were filled by women.
Roundtable's Enfield: state superintendent of the year
Congratulations to Roundtable member Susan Enfield, superintendent of Highline Schools in Washington, who was named 2022 Superintendent of the Year by the Washington Association of School Administrators (WASA) on November 19.

Enfield, entering her tenth year at Highline, has "led with a consistent and unrelenting focus on achieving more equitable outcomes for all students in the district,” said WASA Executive Director Joel Aune.

Expressing her gratitude, Enfield praised her team. "District leadership is a team sport, and we have the very best team in Highline Public Schools.” Enfield, who relentlessly promotes the Highline mantra of a district where every student is known by name, strength, and need, said, "It is a privilege to live, lead and serve in Highline, and I am grateful for this honor.”
A national emergency exists in child and adolescent mental health, say pediatricians and children’s hospitals
In a strongly-worded statement, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and the Children's Hospital Association declared the existence of an emergency in child and adolescent mental health, owing to the exacerbation of existing trends by the pandemic.

"The pandemic has struck at the safety and stability of families. More than 140,000 children in the United States lost a primary and/or secondary caregiver, with youth of color disproportionately impacted. We are caring for young people with soaring rates of depression, anxiety, trauma, loneliness, and suicidality that will have lasting impacts on them, their families, and their communities. We must identify strategies to meet these challenges through innovation and action, using state, local, and national approaches to improve the access to, and quality of, care across the continuum of mental health promotion, prevention, and treatment."
Librarians fight book bans
In response to a Texas legislator demanding that school districts around the state report whether they carry any of 850 titles he deemed inappropriate for students, a group of school librarians took to Twitter to push back on censorship, reports Nadia Tamez-Robledo for EdSurge.

The books are written by diverse authors and feature themes addressing LGBTQ issues, sex education, or racism. Becky Calzada, Leander ISD library coordinator, is one of the leaders of the group. She notes that not every student has access to books outside of libraries, making censorship all the more damaging when books are taken out of circulation.

The group hopes to get legislators' attention and push back against trends towards censoring books that deal with race and sexuality in schools. “We hope people realize they’re not alone—there are people and librarians fighting for students to have rights to literature and information,” said Carolyn Foote, one of the group's organizers.
Incredible century-old secrets hidden behind Oklahoma school chalkboards
It’s a story dated 2011, but it’s reappeared. And it’s magic.

When renovation began on four classrooms at Emerson High in Oklahoma City, workers didn't expect they would discover a slice of local history.

Behind the old blackboards, they made an amazing discovery... layers of chalkboards, hidden away, undisturbed for nearly a hundred years! The old chalkboards have century-old writings and drawings on them. These writings and drawings on the board below shows us a December calendar and a turkey marking Thanksgiving.
Educational services experiencing large increases in workers quitting
Since January, educational services, a category that includes teachers, janitors, and guidance counselors, has experienced more quits than any other industry. Many teachers have resigned or retired early due to the pandemic.

Andrew Mollica and Sarah Chaney Cambon report on national quitting trends for The Wall Street Journal (subscripton required).
Banning Critical Race Theory
In a recent piece, Rashawn Ray and Alexandra Gibbons of Brookings write a good explanation of critical race theory, define the concept's principles, and explore the way that state legislatures have taken a fictitious version of the academic concept as the basis for banning teachers from educating children about historic discrimination in the United States.

"Laws forbidding any teacher or lesson from mentioning race/racism, and even gender/sexism, would put a chilling effect on what educators are willing to discuss in the classroom and provide cover for those who are not comfortable hearing or telling the truth about the history and state of race relations in the United States," the authors point out.
The Bowerbird’s grand performance
Meet the handsome bowerbird--one of the most flamboyant birds in the natural world. Bowerbirds go to extreme efforts to build a nest (a bower) and attract a mate, but will this bird's elegant and eye-catching mating dance do the job?
Roundtable 2021 Agenda

Below you'll find the Roundtable's 2021 agenda, developed as we transformed our program in response to the pandemic into offerings based mostly on Zoom discussions with outstanding school leaders. Don't worry. We have more up our sleeves. Watch this pace early next year for announcements of our 2022 agenda.
2021 Agenda
New Members - 2021
We are pleased to welcome several new members to the Roundtable for 2021! They include:

  • Anthony Azar, Dighton-Rehoboth RSD, Massachusetts
  • Joseph Baeta, Norton, Massachusetts
  • Jill Baker, Long Beach Unified Schools, California
  • Houston Barber, Frankfort, Kentucky
  • Trent Bowers, Worthington, Ohio
  • Rob Brown, Lumpkin County Schools, Georgia
  • Lynn Clark, Chicopee, Massachusetts
  • Jonathan Cooper, Mason, Ohio
  • William Crean, Little Lake City, California
  • Gudiel Crosthwaite, Lynnwood USD, California
  • Matt Degner, Iowa City, Iowa
  • Peter Dillon, Berkshire Hills RSD, Massachusetts
  • Dan Erickson, Bowie, Arizona
  • Dwayne Evans, Hoover-Schrum Memorial, Illinois
  • Erica Forti, East Haven, Connecticut
  • Joshua Garcia, Tacoma, Washington
  • Jennifer Garrison, Vandalia, Illinois
  • Laruth Gray, New York University
  • Heather Griggs, Oro Grande, California
  • Lisa Harrod, Manteno, Illinois
  • Alan Harris, Sierra USD, California
  • James L. Henderson, Proviso Twp. HS District, Illinois
  • Janiece Jackson, Edmund S. Lindop SD, Illinois
  • Melissa Kaczkowski, Glen Ellyn, Illinois
  • Carol Kelley, Oak Park Elementary, Illinois
  • Scott Laliberte, Londonderry, New Hampshire
  • Jim Lloyd, Olmsted Township, Ohio
  • Mary McNeil, Needles USD, California
  • Jonathan Moody, MSAD54/RSU54, Maine
  • Brad Morgan, North Middlesex RSD, Massachusetts
  • Mitzi Morillo, Mendham, NJ
  • Lenell Navarre, Bloom Township, Illinois
  • Sara Noguchi, Modesto, California
  • Jan Perrucio, Old Saybrook, Connecticut
  • Andre' Ponder, Red Mesa USD, Arizona
  • Scott Rowe, Huntley CSD, Illinois
  • Melissa Sadorf, Stanfield, Arizona
  • Anthony Scarsella, Palos CSD 118, Illinois
  • Ron Williams, Victorville, California
  • Alena Zachary-Ross, Ypsilanti, Michigan
  • Paul Zinni, King Philip Regional, Massachusetts
  
Welcome!
New Members - 2022
And, thanks in large part to a new partnership with the Schlechty Center, we have a head start on new members for 2022.

  • Kevin Alfano, Fife Public Schools, Washington
  • Henry Pettiegrew, East Cleveland City Schools, Ohio
  • Scott Robison, Zionsville Community Schools, Indiana
  • Tony Watlington, Rowan-Salisbury Schools, North Carollina
  • Mike Zalar, Tiffin City Schools, Ohio
  
Welcome!
Partners
We want to acknowledge the ongoing support of our work by Artemis Connection, the Center on System Leadership of the National Center on Education and the Economy, and School Innovations & Achievement. Artemis provides strategic consulting services to profit and non-profit entities. The National Institute for School Leadership strengthens the leadership capacities of principals and aspiring leaders. And School Innovations & Achievement focuses on improving achievement by improving attendance.
We are deeply grateful for this support. Thank you!
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