Shepherd: You’ve already gotten involved in a few issues, including halting theadoption of the new, district-wide reading textbooks. What happened there?
Thornton: Really, nothing happened. One of the No. 1priorities we will have as an organization, as a city, as a [school] board,will be the whole issue around literacy and the district’s inability to get thekids to perform at high levels. I really wanted to have a good, firm grasp ofthe true vision we wanted and the desired outcomes that we wanted. I wanted tosense our internal capacity as well as the potential vendors’ capacity todeliver at high levels.
What’shappening as we speak right now is that I will meet with potential vendors overthe next few days here in Pennsylvania and we’ll probably utilize someone whogets up in the morning and goes to bed at night as a reading expert to review,to meta-review [the material], so that we can be certain that we will have thedesired outcomes. This is no indication that I don’t have confidence in thework that’s been done. I’m just validating the work that’s been done, and Ithink that validation will pay high dividends for us as we move forward.
It’s a majorexpenditure for the district. But put the money aside. Money is important, butI want to be certain that we have the right program for what we need in Milwaukee. And biggerthan that, that we have the capacity to deliver it with fidelity throughout theorganization.
Shepherd: There’s been debate for years about the balance of power between theMPS central office and the individual schools. The district-wide curriculum isa part of that. Where do you see the balance between the central office and theindividual schools?
Thornton: As schools demonstrate or have demonstratedthat they have the capacity to move students to high levels, I believe schoolswill continue to haveand potentially have even moreautonomy. With the schoolsthat don’t, it’s our responsibility to support those schools and to get them toa place where they can demonstrate that they are highly proficient centers forchildren.
I do notsupportdo not supportwhat I call the Burger King mentality, where everybodykind of has it their way. This is not a system of schools. This is a school system.And systems are common strands that run through organizations so that no matterwhere you sit in the Milwaukee Public Schools you are assured of having aquality education. Hopefully there’s going to be enough room, enough autonomyand opportunities for places that have demonstrated that they can move youngpeople, that they can get young people to a place where they can advance intheir studies.
Shepherd: Recently a bill was passed that would allow the state Department ofPublic Instruction to intervene in the lowest-performing schools in MPS. Youwere involved in some of the discussions.
Thornton: Some of them.
Shepherd: And according to one letter you sent to the state superintendent, youdidn’t seem too pleased about the entire bill.
Thornton: I think the issue is in the details. I thinkthe state has a responsibility to the members of the communities of the stateto ensure that young people are making progress in local educational agencies.As we can begin to move to what I consider to be probably the most accountabletime in education in my lifetime, states are becoming more and more involved. Ithink what it basically says is that we have to demonstrate that we can moveyoung people. And if we can’t, then the state is saying, “We’re going to comein and help them.”
At the endof the day, I want children to be successful. If it means that we needadditional support from the state, then I’m very, very open to that. I don’tsee it as a state takeover or anything of that nature. I don’t have a vision ofthe state coming in and setting up a central office and running schools. I seethe state as having real clear accountability measures throughout the entirestate of Wisconsinand providing structural support and then holding us accountable to ensure thatwe do that.
Nobody likesaccountability. [laughs] I’ve never run into anybody who likes to beaccountable. But at the end of the day we have to be accountable because ourchildren are it. Especially for Milwaukee,I think you lose a major part of the state’s economic future if these youngpeople aren’t successful. I’m not jumping up and down that we’re going to havethat level of accountability. But I can understand it and I can certainlyappreciate it.
Shepherd: Part of that legislation was ending tenure for principals. I don’tthink you were happy with that.
Thornton: That was bifurcated. What I was concernedabout was that I don’t like changing the rules of the game in the middle of thegame. And there are some people who have received tenure. I have always seentenure as a property right. I was very supportive ofand still am supportive ofas we make this transitionthat folks who come into the organization will nothave tenure. They are management. And I hate to break it into management andsupport systems, but at the end of the day principals are responsible for theday-to-day operations of the schools. As a result of that, there is a very highexpectation for principal accountability.
What Isupported is tenure going away. But there has to be due process. At the end ofthe day if the captain of the ship is not getting the ship where it needs togo, then we need to have some serious conversations about the captain. I’m notcertain that I’ve ever worked in an organization that had tenure for principals.But I think as we position ourselves, as new principals come to our city, Ithink they come without tenure.
Shepherd: The outgoing superintendent has proposed his final budget, which ispretty grim. Hundreds of layoffs are expected. How do you feel about walkinginto this situation?
Thornton: It’s a Milwaukeeconcern and it’s a national concern. The present formula with which we fund thepublic schools in Americadoes not work. We’re going to have to rethink how we allocate dollars tosupport our most important national commodity, which is our children.
Let’s talkabout Milwaukee.Certainly I’m concerned. What I’ve realized is that in any organization themost important driver is your human capital. And when you lose that number offolks, it basically says that we need to think differently about how we supportour young people. Certainly I’m not excited [about the budget situation]. But Iwill also say that, although I was not integrally involved, I know that thepresent superintendent worked very hard to mitigate the loss as much aspossible.
There comesa point in any organization when you start to get diminishing returns. And MPSis close to that. I don’t think there’s a whole lot left to trim. We have a lotof work to do. The budget, for me, is not just something you do during budgetseason. It’s something you work on all year round.
Shepherd: How are you going to get parents more involved?
Thornton: I’m going to ask them. I’m going to invitethem. I’m going to create the conditions in which they feel compelled,supported and welcome to take a more active part in their youngsters’ lives. Idon’t think there are any parents who don’t want their kids to get good grades.If we can create a way to engage them on all fronts, then I think it will bevery welcome and it will send a clear message to our young people. “My mom’s inthis, my dad’s in this, my grandmom’s in this, my school’s in this.”Potentially one of the things we will begin to explore is faith-based supportsystems for schools, some corporate support systems for schools. “Everybody’spulling for me. I’ve got to get this done.”%uFFFD
