“If better is possible, good will not do,” former U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige told about 220 Jackson Public School District principals, assistant principals and administrators at the JPS Summer Leadership Institute, Monday, July 19.
Paige served as keynote speaker. Leaders say he helped set the tone for the 2010-2011 school year. The institute, an initiative of JPS Superintendent Lonnie Edwards, was held at the JSU e-Center, located at 1230 Raymond Road.
“You are to be congratulated on the successes you have achieved, but the most important challenge you face is to accept responsibility for those in your charge, set high expectations and prove that you can be a top school district in America,” challenged Paige. “I want to see JPS in the five finalists for the 2013 Broad Prize for Urban Education. Make that your goal.
The $2 million Broad Prize for Urban Education, established in 2002, is the largest education award in the country given to school districts. The Broad Prize is awarded each year to honor urban school districts that demonstrate the greatest overall performance and improvement in student achievement while reducing achievement gaps among low-income and minority students.
Paige, a Monticello, Miss. native, said he was tired of going to national conferences and not seeing JPS and Mississippi districts among the best in the nation. “Accept responsibility. Don’t run from it or hide from it, and develop a collegial environment. Share responsibility together. It is time to go forward and show that all children can learn,” he said.
The theme for the week-long JPS Summer Leadership Institute was “The Ultimate Partnership: A New Level of Leadership, Accountability, and Collaboration.” Opening day activities were centered on “Holistic Accountability and Empowered Leadership.”
During welcoming remarks, Superintendent Edwards stated: “As I begin my third year with Jackson Public Schools, we will focus on change and growth by emphasizing centralization, uniformity, execution, and synchronization. This will help us maximize our work efforts as we work together with clear procedures.”
Paige also told participants that leaders are expected to lead. “Everything is possible if you disregard the impossibilities. Who would have thought that an African American man growing up in desegregation would end up sitting four chairs from the President of the United States?” he said. Paige served during President George W. Bush’s administration.
Although he challenged the leaders, he also praised JPS and the superintendent for balancing its 2010-2011 budget without having to make staff cuts. “All across the nation, school systems are facing a budget crisis, and many are having to let people go,” he said.
During his tenure, Paige was described as “a fierce and innovative champion of education reform” who led the way in setting new standards of achievement for all students. He spearheaded the implementation of the historic No Child Left Behind Act of 2001.
At a mini-press conference after his address to JPS educators, Paige was asked about President Obama. The former teacher, coach and college dean said, “I like President Obama. I like what I see…his emphasis on education. I know and like Arne Duncan, U.S. Secretary of Education. I think the President’s goals for education are a bit broad, but I think he is headed in the right direction.”
Other nationally recognized speakers sharing innovative educational practices and leadership techniques at the institute included:
Dr. Butch Rosser, a native Mississippian and nationally recognized surgeon, who is also a founder of “I Too Can Fly” – an innovative school and community partnership being piloted in JPS to discourage dropouts and encourage careers in science, math, technology, education and the military; and
Dr. Roger Cleveland, an assistant professor in the Department of Education at Eastern Kentucky University, who has worked with inner city youth as an academic and social intervention counselor.
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