Since its launch in May 1998 as the Education Fund for Greater Buffalo, Good Schools for All has generated almost $1.9M for school improvement over the last 5 years (over $350,000 of which was raised from state or national sources) and invested countless additional resources in improving parent involvement, engaging the public in school issues, and focusing community efforts on improving student achievement. 

When Good Schools was first created and housed at the Community Foundation in May 1998, it pooled the resources of corporations and foundations to make significant grants to schools in special education, workforce preparation, and parent involvement in literacy.  This experience quickly taught us that progress could be made in individual schools, yet sustained improvement over time remained elusive.  We also found that schools with great needs had little capacity to make and carry out effective plans to meet those needs.  Meanwhile, as we invested our resources in school-based projects, the system as a whole remained largely unchanged.

By 2000, two developments precipitated a philosophical shift within Good Schools.  First, Marion Canedo was named Buffalo Public Schools (BPS) Superintendent. Second, she and then Board of Education President Paul Buchanan commissioned the Council of Great City Schools to conduct a management review of the BPS.  In these developments, Good Schools for All found credible school leaders and a forceful agenda for change.  As a result, Good Schools' Board decided to channel its resources to leverage system-wide school improvement, focused specifically on the BPS.

Theory of Action

As Good Schools considered the significant change that could be prompted by the Council of Great City Schools Report, we began to explore the research around big city school reform across the country.  We have been especially persuaded by the Brookings Institution's Paul Hill, who argues forcefully for the necessity of long-term consistent public engagement in school improvement.  After studying education reform efforts in six cities, Hill concluded reform can only succeed with a community that contributes to reform efforts and holds its leaders accountable for the results.

"Leadership must come, strongly and for a long time, from outside the system.  Superintendents are good sources of day-to-day leadership, but given their short tenures, their efforts are not enough. Leadership must come from a longer-lasting source and one that is both more deeply rooted in the community than a Superintendent and less protective of the status quo than a school board or district central office."

The Great City Schools report also supported this strategy by urging the district to work with Good Schools to engage the community in reform.  The Council's position, like that of the Brookings Institution, is that for reform to have the staying power it needs to succeed, the community must both push for and support it.  Without this combination of outside pressure and support, reform falls victim to the inertia within the school district.  

Believing that community involvementt is a key ingredient to meaningful change, Good Schools has begun to work toward three long-term goals. 

1. Support the system-wide changes cited by the Council of Great City Schools necessary to improve student achievement across the district.  Currently, we:

• Place first priority on raising academic achievement, by convening a coalition of organizations that provide literacy services to make literacy a top priority in the community and to assist schools in helping children learn to read. 
• Provide greater parental access to and choice among public schools, by providing the community with extensive information about negotiating the school choice process and making the right choice for children.

2. Build the capacity of parents and students to support learning at home, in schools, and in the community. Currently, we:

• Coordinate a parent liaison network that serves 20 city schools and demonstrates a measurable degree of increased parent involvement and student achievement in schools served.  Parent liaisons engage and support parents in school buildings and serve on district policy committees such as textbook selection committees, the District Parent Coordinating Council, and the report card development committee.
• Convene organizations that support parents in a coalition whose goal is to provide a seamless array of services to parents based on the needs of their children.
• Engage youth in improving their schools by amplifying their voices in school decision-making and encouraging student activities to make change.

3. Engage the community in school issues that improve student achievement and produce system-wide education reform.

• Provide a continuous and consistent flow of information regarding the BPS reform efforts, such as:
  • Providing an independent source of school information on GoodSchoolsForAll.org
  • Conducting community forums and town meetings
  • Broadcasting television documentaries
  • Developing publications that address community concerns about schools.
• Develop a community-wide plan to ensure that all students receive the services they need to succeed in and out of school by building a safety net of services for children across the city through a combination of the following initiatives:
  • The Close the Gap initiative to provide human services to children and families in schools;
  • The $1 billion plan to reconstruct Buffalo Public Schools; and
  • The School Choice Plan to expand the schools available for parents to select for their children.  

Good Schools for All has much important and difficult work before it.  We continue to believe in the Council of Great City Schools findings that the Buffalo School system:

"Can take the steps necessary to substantially improve student achievement, play a central role in the city's economic revitalization, and increase public confidence in its schools.  Or it can keep things pretty much as they are.  The first path is steep and risky and requires energy and determination.  The second path is easy and safe and lined with regrets about what might have been." 

Good Schools will follow the steep and risky path with the energy and determination of the people of Buffalo, who care about the future of their children and their city.  We believe they will demonstrate their concern by taking responsibility for their schools.