Cincinnati鈥檚 most influential business and religious leaders say they won鈥檛 support future school tax levies unless the district superintendent gets more authority to make changes to raise lagging test scores.
The shared-decisionmaking structure in the 38,800-student district has fostered a 鈥渃ommittee culture鈥� that blurs lines of accountability and has left Superintendent Alton Frailey and school board members with little authority, argue representatives from the Cincinnati Business Committee and the Baptist Ministers Conference.
鈥淭he community is holding the board and superintendent responsible for things they cannot affect,鈥� said Rick Williams, a school board member who is working with a new coalition that includes the two groups. 鈥淲hen a committee makes a decision, the superintendent or the board can鈥檛 override them. They may have the best of intentions, but they鈥檙e not making quality decisions.鈥�
By putting public pressure on the district, the coalition hopes to get a pay-for-performance plan for teachers adopted. It also wants to ensure that minority contractors participate in the district鈥檚 $1 billion school construction project. Members of the coalition announced their demands during a news conference last month.
The rift has exposed deep divisions in the southwest Ohio city, which has prided itself on the extensive shared- decisionmaking structure developed under former Superintendent Steven Adamowski.
Many of the committees鈥攚hich include two at each of the district鈥檚 81 schools that are charged with making instructional and budgetary decisions鈥攁re outlined in the Cincinnati Federation of Teachers鈥� contract.
Alarmed teachers鈥� union officials and community activists say they were blindsided by the coalition鈥檚 ultimatum. It was delivered on March 16, the same week that school board members took the unusual step of rejecting a tentative agreement on a new teachers鈥� contract.
Sue Taylor, the president of the Cincinnati union, an affiliate of the American Federation of Teachers, called the concerns cited by the coalition 鈥渙verblown.鈥� She pointed out that the union presented a new pay-for-performance plan to district negotiators, but that it was rejected. The 3,500-member union turned down a performance-pay proposal in 2002.
鈥楢 Lot of Green鈥�
The effort to give the superintendent more authority appears to be a ploy, Ms. Taylor said, to strip autonomy from schools. 鈥淣ame one initiative they wanted that they weren鈥檛 able to get,鈥� she said of the superintendent and school board. 鈥淭his is all smoke and mirrors.鈥�
If business and religious leaders withdraw their support for future school tax levies, the district could suffer dire consequences.
The Cincinnati Business Committee is made up of 25 chief executive officers of the city鈥檚 top employers, including the Kroger Co., Federated Department Stores Inc., and the Procter & Gamble Co. The committee provides hefty financial support for school levy campaigns, contributing up to $1 million per effort.
The school board may ask voters to renew a five-year, $65 million operating levy in November.
鈥淲e鈥檙e talking a lot of green here,鈥� said Emily Spicer, the education chairwoman of the Amos Project, a group of religious congregations in the Cincinnati area. 鈥淲hen [the business committee] takes that position, you鈥檝e got to make some changes. Sometimes, people need to be shook up.鈥�
While the Amos Project isn鈥檛 ready to pull its support for school levies, Ms. Spicer said the group, which also is part of the new coalition, wants to give Superintendent Frailey a chance to succeed by giving him more control.
Craig Maier, the co-chairman of the Cincinnati Business Committee鈥檚 school task force, argued that keeping the status quo in a district that has been in 鈥渁cademic emergency鈥� since 2000 for failing to meet most state standards isn鈥檛 an option.
鈥淲hat we鈥檙e saying is that you鈥檙e not going to have money, and you鈥檙e not going to have jobs, because you鈥檙e not going to have the tax dollars, unless I get what I want first,鈥� said Mr. Maier, who is the chief executive officer of Frisch鈥檚 Restaurants. 鈥淭he superintendent needs to be allowed to be the CEO.鈥�
Mr. Frailey, who declined to comment, has told school board members that he believes the shared-decisionmaking system would hamper efforts to make districtwide changes in curriculum and instruction.
Carolyn N. Turner, the executive director of Cincinnati Parents for Public Schools, an advocacy group that supports public education, said shifting more power to the superintendent could diminish parents鈥� influence over their children鈥檚 education.
鈥淲e鈥檙e not saying that we don鈥檛 want to give [the superintendent] more power,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ut power to do what?鈥�
Meanwhile, the teachers鈥� union filed a complaint of unfair labor practices with the state last month, charging that the school board was not bargaining in food faith. A fact-finder has been assigned to resolve the remaining differences. The teachers鈥� contract expired in 2002, but was extended twice to this past February.
