Part of rebuilding a broken Detroit school system may lie in building up parents so they're better able to advocate for their children and be engaged in their learning.
And for Nikolai Vitti, superintendent of the Detroit Public Schools Community District, achieving that will come in the form of creating parent academies that offer classes to parents on a wide range of topics.
"We'll offer classes on what questions to ask during parent-teacher conferences, how to create a culture of literacy in the home, how to fill out a FAFSA (federal student aid)form to get college aid."
Engaging parents is one of the top priorities for Vitti, who is about 60 days into an ambitious effort to rebuild a district that has struggled academically and financiallyand had been under some form of state control for much of the last two decades.
Vitti discussed his plans during a wide-ranging discussion on the state of education in Detroit during a forum at the Wayne County Community College District campus in downtown Detroit.
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He described a district that is dysfunctional on many levels, but a staff with a high level of commitment. And he discussed the impact of years of management of the district by people with no educational experience, saying the district has been experimented upon, politicized and mismanaged.
When asked how parent involvement fits in with his vision for the new DPSCD, Vitti mentioned the parent academies. He did his dissertation on the concept of parent academies. They were created in Miami, where he was the chief academic officer. And he brought it to the Duval County Public Schools in Jacksonville, where he was superintendent for five years until he took the Detroit job.
"It's something I plan on bringing to Detroit," Vitti said.
The academies will focus on three areas: how to better advocate for children educationally, how to become a better parent and how to develop what he described as the "whole" parent.
"It's hard for parents to work with their children when they're trying to keep a job or pay a light bill," Vitti said. "Sowe will offer classes on financial literacy, how to build credit. We'll offer classes on how to create a résumé, how to apply for a job. We'll offer English language classes for newly arrived immigrants."
He's also planning to bring before the district's board of education a recommendation to require each school to have an advisory council that will include parents, teachers, students, business partners andunion representatives.
"We think this is going to be a way to activate parents and community members to get more involved in schools," Vitti said. "When I do speaking events, people always ask, how can I make a difference?"
L. Carlis-Piper, who teaches at Foreign Language Immersion and Cultural Studies School, said she liked what she heard from Vitti overall — from the plan to create parent academies to his emphasis on supporting teachers.
"I'm glad that he seems to be upping the rigor and the expectations," Piper said.
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Here's what Vitti had to say on some other topics during the forum:
• In addition to parent engagement, Vitti noted the following as priorities: recruiting and retaining teachers and school leaders;being more efficient and transparent with resources,and developing the whole child,which he said means focusing less on standardized tests (the district has already approved cutting required tests by 70%) and more on offering arts, music and civic education.
• When a search firm first called Vitti to see if he was interested in the job, he asked an important question: "Are you sure the board wants a reformer?" The reality, he said, is that often boards "want a reformer until you start reforming." But he was convinced that the current board,which was elected in November and is the first empowered board since 2009,wants change.
He said he's put controversial issues before the board and gotten their support. Among them is a reorganization of the district that resulted in nearly 50 people being let go.
"The board knows the window of opportunity to get this right is very small," Vitti said. "There are lots of people, mainly outside Detroit, that just wantDetroit to fail."
• Asked what reaction to his plans have been in the district, Vitti said it comes in the form of three groups of people: those that are supportive and optimistic because of his track record, those that are resistant because they're fearful of their jobs, and the "this too shall pass" group that says, "We've heard this before. It sounds a little different. He looks a little different. But the system will eat him up eventually."
• Vitti said the district is committed to improving the safety and remove blight around its closed school buildings. That includes boarding up all closed schools so they don't become havens for drug deals, criminal activity or homeless people. It also involves cutting the grass "and making it at least presentable and not neglected."
But he wants to hold off on selling properties. There are some buildings, he said — specifically citing the Cooley High School site — that could be reused.
• Vitti said he wants to increase dual enrollment opportunities for students - allowing them to take both high school and college classes at the same time, earning college credit that can help save money when they eventually enroll in higher education.
• Vitti wants every high school to have an active student government, "which is lacking right now." He also plans to create an executive board made up of students. He would meet with that board monthly.
Contact Lori Higgins: 313-222-6651, lhiggins@freepress.com or @LoriAHiggins
REACHING OUT
The Detroit Public Schools Community District is holding a series of meetings to get input from the public that will help shape the future of the district. The following meetings are open to the public:
• 5-7 p.m. Wednesday, Ben Carson High School for Science and Medicine, 571 Mack.
• 12:30-2:30 p.m. Thursday, East English Village Preparatory Academy, 5020 Cadieux.
• 12:30-2:30 p.m. Monday, Aug. 28, Munger Elementary-Middle School, 5525 Martin.
