I went to a school board meeting with the hope of communicating with either one of the auditors, the late Arlene Ackerman, or the rookie superintendent’s Broad mentor, Eloise Brooks (who had worked for Ackerman in San Francisco and followed her to Philadelphia.) Ackerman, of course, is remembered for the controversial and secretive manner that her contract was bought out when she was forced to leave Philadelphia. The New York Times wrote of her exit, “Many attributed this to arrogance and an autocratic style; some called her Queen Arlene.”

http://newsok.com/article/3090052

http://thenotebook.org/latest0/2011/08/31/children-first-fund-gave-thousands-on-ackerman-s-way-in-too

It did not take a formal introduction to identify the Broad advisor. The top OKCPS central office staff gathered deferentially around Dr. Brooks were clearly intimidated. When I tried to introduce myself, she scowled, “Why do you in Oklahoma City not teach our black children to read?”

The administrators, who were all black, female, veteran educators, tried to defend me, attesting to my commitment to the black community, but that was just one of the first snap judgments the Broad advisor made, and she did not show any interest in communicating. She and Porter were convinced that even in our poor, underfunded district, raising expectations would be enough to create a great learning environment.

A few weeks later, I was one of the few whites in a black church, with Dr. Brooks sitting on the front row as John Q. Porter addressed the congregation. He said that she had visited the predominantly black Douglass Mid-High. He attacked teachers who supposedly wanted to kick black boys out of school. Porter introduced his new advisor from Broad who had intercepted black boys who were being sent to the office for disciplinary reasons and returned them to class, just telling the teachers to teach them. Porter exclaimed:

I can’t make teachers love our black boys! “But I can make you do your job. … If you can’t teach our black boys, you have to go!” Porter started a chant that culminated with “Do your job, or you have to go!”

Dr. Brooks led the applause.

I’ve recently been reviewing reporters’ descriptions of Broad superintendents in other cities who have been dismissed or forced to resign. The similarities between the press accounts and what I have experienced with Broad graduates is uncanny. For instance, when leaving Rockford, Ill., Superintendent LaVonne Sheffield “said she was hired as a ‘change agent’ for the district: now she feels the district is no longer ‘moving forward.’” It was reported that, “Sheffield has been criticized for her leadership style,” and that she was sued, in part, for the allegedly false charge that an educator, “distorts data and he believes minority students aren’t as bright, that they can’t learn, and that efforts to teach those children, quote, “those children,” and close the achievement gap are essentially a waste of time.

A similar account of the resignation of Dr. Deborah Sims (class of 2005) of the Antioch Unified School District (CA) quoted a teachers union president criticizing “her approach to leadership: her absolute lack of personal communications with employees and the board; her flawed decision-making from a totally top-down leadership style … that reflected in everything from bargaining to discipline to curriculum to morale.”

When Thandiwe Peebles (class of 2002) resigned from the Minneapolis public school system after 18 turbulent months, she “was criticized for an abrasive personality and use of district resources for personal business. An employee complained, “principals go to these meetings and they come back chilled. … The superintendent has publicly shamed professional staff.”

http://parentsacrossamerica.org/a-guide-to-the-broad-foundations-training-programs-and-policies/

The late Maria Goodloe-Johnson (class of 2003) was fired after 3-1/2 years with Seattle Public Schools “after the state auditor’s office uncovered up to $1.8 million in losses or questionable spending in the district’s small-business contracting program.” The Seattle Times reported that “Goodloe-Johnson wasn’t directly implicated in the scandal, but an outside attorney hired by the board concluded she knew enough that she should have acted.”

Just as important was the vote of no confidence by district employees in the wake of “rancorous negotiations” including the now-discredited use of test scores in teacher evaluations. One of her opponents wrote, “Goodloe-Johnson developed a poisonous relationship with teachers, in no small part because of her repeated attempts to bypass state labor laws and her bad faith contract negotiation efforts.” Similar, when describing her defenders’ arguments, a reporter acknowledged the “superintendent’s obvious failings as a communicator.”

By the way, Goodloe-Johnson was praised for her relatively long tenure, and 3-1/2 years is supposedly the average for Broad superintendents, if not their high-profile ones. But the average Broadie last two years less than the average superintendent.

https://www.seattlepi.com/local/article/Goodloe-Johnson-ousted-as-Seattle-schools-chief-1039336.php

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/former-seattle-schools-chief-goodloe-johnson-dead-at-55-had-cancer/

http://thebroadreport.blogspot.com/2011/03/maria-goodloe-johnson-broad.html

https://seattleducation.com/2011/03/23/the-true-legacy-of-seattle%E2%80%99s-fired-broad-academy-superintendent-maria-goodloe-johnson/

http://old.seattletimes.com/html/edcetera/2014560982_in_defense_of_maria_goodloe-jo.html

How long does a big-city superintendent last? Longer than you might think.

There are two intertwined issues that explain so many controversies, with the abrasiveness of Broadies being just the first. The second is the way that Broad embraces the punitive and the dismantling of programs, as well as school closures. As Parents Across America explains:

General Anthony Tata (class of 2009), has been embroiled in controversy for dismantling Wake County’s desegregation plan. John Covington (class of 2008), Superintendent of Kansas City Schools, has announced his intention to close half the schools districts in the city. Robert Bobb (class of 2005), the Emergency Financial Manager of the Detroit Public Schools, recently sent layoff notices to every one of the district’s 5,466 salaried employees, including all its teachers, and said that nearly a third of the district’s schools would be closed or turned over to private charter operators.

These cuts help explain why Randolph Ward (class of 2003), “aroused huge protests with his plans to close schools and hired a personal bodyguard. Similarly, Bobb had to be escorted out of a town hall meeting by six bodyguards.

http://parentsacrossamerica.org/a-guide-to-the-broad-foundations-training-programs-and-policies/

I could go on and on, synthesizing on secondary sources to outline the flaws of other influential Broad graduates such as John White (class of 2010), Tom Boasberg (2009), Tom Brady (2004), Mike Miles (2011), and others. I could further review the ways Broad-trained administrators were involved in closing schools in Boston, Charleston, Chicago, Dallas, Washington, D.C., Miami-Dade County, Oakland, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, and Seattle. But readers can find great analyses of each one by a variety of contributors such as Sharon Higgins, Susan Ohanian, Jim Horn and others to the Diane Ravitch Blog.

My contribution as a veteran inner city teacher, who has done his best to work with corporate reformers, is to help discern patterns. Sadly, whenever I’ve seen behaviors like those exhibited by so many Broad superintendents, I’ve then seen disastrous consequences inflicted on students. As our district’s veteran educators used to be told, when feces is dumped on teachers, it rolls downhill, into the kids’ classrooms.

http://thebroadreport.blogspot.com/p/featured-graduates.html

And that brings me back to the audit of OKCPS schools that the Broad reformers kept secret. Even then, it was clear that the failure to use an objective performance auditor and to publically share the findings were terrible mistakes. Even then, we knew the problems with using standardized test scores as an accountability metric. We could not have known, however, that just about the only evidence of successes that Broad-led districts would ultimately produce would be based on bubble-in metrics. And we certainly could not have predicted that so many Broad graduates would engage in so many other questionable games with data and other so-called evidence.

In 2007, the OKCPS hired a graduate of the Broad Superintendents’ Academy, John Q. Porter. The Broad Academy was run like a corporate executive training program, and it emphasized data, choice, and other market-driven policies. Porter left Oklahoma City after a tumultuous seven months. Porter – who was clueless about improving high-poverty schools – later became president of Mosaica Turnaround Partners.

John Q. Porter, President of Mosaica Turnaround Partners

An investigation by a former federal prosecutor found Porter had, “improperly sought reimbursement from the school system for personal, first-class airplane tickets to Washington; that he had been reimbursed for apparent alcohol purchases at expensive restaurants;” and that he asked district employees to perform a personal task at his home. The district attorney did not indict but Porter agreed to resign.

http://newsok.com/article/3190204

https://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2008/01/23/20porter.h27.html

My reading of the evidence was that Porter had not meant to violate the law. Perhaps naively, I concluded that it mostly was his high-handedness that brought him down. Because of his micromanaging style, the people who knew the information he should have sought were not invested in his success. I now believe I was too charitable when sizing up nature of the problems.

Perhaps the most famous Broad leader was John Deasy (class of 2006), When he was superintendent of Prince George’s County in 2008, a controversy erupted over his doctorate of philosophy. He only completed nine credit hours in one semester. Deasy was later driven out of Los Angeles after pushing a $1.3-billion plan to provide an iPad to every student and educator. He did so despite questions about the wisdom of using of long-term bonds to buy devices that would last only a few years. But the overriding issue was the acrimony Deasy fostered. As one educator said, “If you feel the earth begin to violently shake sometime tomorrow, don’t worry — it won’t be an earthquake … “It’ll be 40,000 LAUSD employees dancing.”

When resigning, Deasy wrote that he “was unable to adjust my leadership style and my expectations for the system in a way that would have gotten me longer tenure in the job. I own 100 percent of that.”

http://www.governing.com/topics/education/mct-deasy-resigns.html

Another consequential Broadie, Jean-Claude Brizard (class of 2008), helped provoke the Chicago teachers strike. Brizard came from Rochester where he was “mired in controversy,” and named in at least two federal lawsuits, as well as being condemned for his aggressive reform style and his methods for his handling of teachers and staff. As the Chicago CEO, Brizzard was criticized for his management style, his manner of communication, and high turnover for department heads and cabinet positions.

http://parentsacrossamerica.org/a-guide-to-the-broad-foundations-training-programs-and-policies/

http://www.gazette.net/stories/09112008/prinnew175734_32486.shtml

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-jean-claude-brizard-out-as-cps-head-20121011-story.html

Jersey Jazzman: Why X Months of Learning is a Phony Metriv

Conversely, Thelma Melendez de Santa Ana (class of 2006) brought sniffles to teachers in Eugene, Ore., who gave her a standing ovation after she told the inspirational tale of a teacher and a 5th grader. It turned out the story came from a forty-year-old work of fiction.

https://pilotonline.com/news/local/education/article_0ec71a80-7b5c-51bf-bf46-c940186c34d7.html

Joseph Wise (class of 2003), formerly Superintendent of the Duval County Florida Public Schools, left a $26 million deficit while a superintendent in Delaware, before being hired and fired from his Duval post. He moved on to Edison Schools.
http://www.wboc.com/story/7944956/former-christina-head-fired-in-fla-hired-by-edison

Speaking of Edison Schools, in 2007, when its former leader, Chris Cerf (class of 2004), was the acting New Jersey Education Commissioner, The Newark Star Ledger reported that Cerf “can be thin-skinned, quick-tempered and, at times, less than forthcoming, even when the answers to questions could hardly be seen as damaging.” He was criticized for not identifying his involvement in a consulting firm which developed a secret plan to turn many Newark public schools over to charter operators.

The Broad Foundation acknowledged that it put up $500,000 to pay for the study.

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2011/03/nj_acting_education_commission.html

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2011/02/acting_nj_education_chief_cerf.html

Involvement in previous scandals doesn’t necessarily seem to be grounds for exclusion from the Broad team. The Baltimore Sun reported that Kimberly Statham, the former chief academic officer for Howard County Schools resigned after allegations of a “grade changing scandal” involving her daughter. Deborah Gist, then the state superintendent of education for the District of Columbia, later hired Statham as deputy superintendent of teaching and learning. Gist said, “We discussed it really briefly.”

But she said. “It seems clear that it was an unfortunate situation, and that Kimberly had done the right thing, and that she did not do anything that would concern me at all.”

Of course, D.C. Superintendent Gist was far from aggressive in investigating cheating during Michelle Rhee’s time at D.C.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/bs-mtblog-2007-10-where_are_they_now_kimberly_a-story.html

Justice Denied…

And that brings me back to Oklahoma, and whether we were sufficiently inquisitive about our first Broad graduate. After Porter resigned, the Washington Post took a second look at his record. It reported:

In a June 2006 interview with District Administration, a magazine for school administrators, Porter confessed a weakness for fine dining — “I try to find the top 10 in new cities I travel to” — and fine things: “I like expensive clothes, expensive cars. I collect pens. I collect Rolex watches.”

The Post reviewed expense records for the last full year Porter worked in Montgomery County and it noted three items:
One was Porter’s first-class flight to San Francisco for a conference in April 2006, which cost $1,379.50. “Our people don’t fly first class,” said Brian Edwards, Weast’s chief of staff. The others were a pair of December 2006 purchases at Best Buy stores totaling $373.46. There’s no evidence Porter recorded them in a transaction log, as required by the school system.

More importantly, the Post looked into “other aspects of Porter’s work in Montgomery [that] also are being questioned as a result of the Oklahoma City investigation.” The Post reported on his relationship “with a New York high-tech firm. Oklahoma City school board members alleged Porter last year arranged a contract with Wireless Generation that ‘was not, but should have been, open to competitive bidding.’ The contract provided diagnostic reading software to Oklahoma City schools.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/10/AR2008031002774.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/16/AR2008011601876_2.html

In wake of Lora resignation, ‘we must become more civil’

And then came the Oklahoma teacher walkout and the conversations with educators who had similar experiences with Broad graduates. Although we appreciated Tulsa superintendent Deborah Gist’s (class of 2008) support for a teacher pay raise, she presided over a district with ten Broadies in leadership positions. (The hiring of another, from Denver, was announced last week, bringing the total to 11.) Despite the large number of Tulsa’s advantages in comparison to Oklahoma City, it is near the bottom of the nation’s urban schools in increasing student performance. When I hear from Tulsa teachers about the micromanaging imposed by the Broad-dominated administration, it’s hard to believe that their mandates haven’t undermined teaching and learning.

This prompted a survey of secondary sources, and an inventory of how and why other Broad graduates were dismissed or forced to resign. As with Oklahoma educators who finished each other’s sentences when discussing their Broad graduates, reporters across the nation used very similar language in describing the careers of their cities’ Broad superintendents. It was shocking to read how many of them played fast and loose with the facts before and after being hired, ruled their systems in similar ways, and left office in a comparable manner.

It would take a far more detailed study to determine whether Broad superintendents behave the way they do based on the personalities that they brought to the academy, as opposed to determining what it is about the organization that recruits such people and trains them to operate in such similar ways. I assume it is a combination of the two factors – it takes a certain type of mindset to advance in the corporate reform system, and there is something about the Broad world which turns out certain types of leaders.

Or should I say, turns out leadership outputs?

In 2007, the OKCPS hired a graduate of the Broad Superintendents’ Academy, John Q. Porter. The Broad Academy was run like a corporate executive training program, and it emphasized data, choice, and other market-driven policies. Broad superintendent candidates attended long weekend training sessions over a ten-week period. Their curriculum stressed instructional alignment, performance management systems, and leadership. Its management techniques emphasized “prioritizing and pacing work for optimal quality.”

Oklahoma City’s Broad graduate was unquestionably dedicated to the students, and he was a good enough sport to compete in my school’s first “Buffalo Chip Throwing Championship.” (Dressed in a fine business suit, the superintendent finished second, behind me, but unlike the champion buffalo feces thrower, he wore a plastic glove.) The superintendent enjoyed talking with my students, but he never seemed comfortable listening to teenagers when they disagreed with his policies. I never understood how a man, who was so committed to poor children of color, could be so unwilling to listen to the real experts on poor schools – the students whom he sought to help.

In one such meeting, the superintendent acknowledged that his experience had been in a suburban district that had nearly three times as much per student spending, but he said that his former district, Montgomery County, had more low income students than the OKCPS had students. I remained silent as my students tried to explain the difference between one of the nation’s top school systems where only a quarter of students were low income, and our schools where almost everyone was poor and most students were several years behind grade level. I was so proud of my students as they argued that poor kids in neighborhood schools could master the same high-quality material as kids in his old district, but that it would take time. Afterwards, my student leaders were blunt, saying that the superintendent had no idea of what he was rushing into.

At the same time, the principals whom I most admired were clearly intimidated by the new superintendent. Video cameras were installed in schools, not for supervising unsafe areas but as a first step toward monitoring routine activities. No memos, I was warned, should be sent by e-mail anymore. I wondered, perhaps naively, how policy discussions could be conducted without e-mail. Before long, however, it became clear that expressing dissent was no longer seen as appropriate and memos were no longer welcome.

According to assistant principals at my school, every teacher would now have to “be on the same page” in teaching at the same rate from the same textbook. My principal knew that I would not abide by that rule. Since I was an award-winning teacher who was then on his way to being selected the runner-up OKCPS Teacher of the Year, I had political leverage to make a deal. In case we had a visitor from the central office, my students would keep their textbooks open to the official page, regardless of whether they looked at it.

The superintendent confirmed to my students and me that he ultimately wanted a system where he could supervise classroom instruction by video throughout the district from his office. In the meantime, compliance was monitored by teams of central office staff. My visit was conducted by the former principal of the district’s nationally-ranked magnet school. This highly-paid professional continuously typed the details of our class’ instruction into his laptop. He obviously enjoyed the lesson, smiling at all of the best parts. When I tried to speak with the administrator, however, it was like we had never known each other. We later met in the hall, and started a real conversation. He complimented my lesson and relationships with students, but another central office administrator approached, and our discussion stopped mid-syllable.