Ramon Cortinez, an educational consultant in the San Fransisco area, has examined the public school system in America from almost every angle.
From his beginnings as a sixth grade teacher, Cortinez worked his way through the ranks, becoming a principal and later superintendent and chancellor of both the New York City and Los Angeles school districts.
Speaking to a crowd last week on "Big City Schools -- can they succeed," Cortinez began the talk with a statement that this missed the real question -- whether public education in America can survive.
Currently a private consultant, Cortinez works with large companies to get funding for public schools and working to improve the public school system. Calling the issue of public schools as a "life or death situation," he diagnoses community and responsibility as the keys to its survival.
In running both his classrooms and school districts, he champions above all, communities working together, outside the box to help children. "We don't spend enough time connecting the dots for kids. They need to understand what they are doing." Cortinez said. "Too many times, we are asking kids to regurgitate knowledge when what we want are thinkers."
As an example of this, Cortinez cited an asbestos crisis that delayed the opening of schools for 10 days when he was Commissioner of the New York City public schools. Despite the setback, he demanded that all teachers have science lessons ready on what asbestos is, what it does to you and how it works, so the students could better understand the crisis.
By challenging the students to understand and question their world in this manner, he said he works to put a responsibility on the community to act as supplementary teachers. "Do not abdicate responsibility," is his unofficial motto. "The problem is not with the kids."
In his own life, Cortinez said he has supported these ideals on every level -- from organizing extra parent-teacher meetings and discussions for his sixth grade class to going to the mayor of New York for collaboration between the after-school programs and the schools.
Cortinez also challenges students and communities alike to excel, telling the audience, "You are here because people set standards for you. You are here because your parents stuck their thumb in your back, and did not let up until you went to college. Everyone needs support like that."
In one Californian school district, Cortinez notified parents that they could not enroll their kids in extra Saturday programs unless the parents physically brought the students to class every week. By instating this policy at the school, regular attendance went up in the Saturday program, parent involvement increased and even the yearly test scores were slightly better than in previous years.
Cortinez has also made efforts to reform school administration. In his post as chancellor of the New York City and Los Angeles school districts, he relocated thousands of administrators back into schools to make them more effective.
"Los Angeles in particular has a bloated puzzle palace [of administrative offices]. It is filled with good people who got to their offices not by competency or knowledge of the subject, but instead for political reasons."
Instead of working on administrative tangles, he hoped future educators would "stop the finger pointing that exists between elementary school teachers and high school teachers blaming one another for problems with the students."
Instead, he believes elementary schools and high schools can work together on joint projects to foster understanding between the two age groups and the two teachers.
Looking at national politics, Cortinez sees a special interest in education in the past few years. "Everyone wants to be the education president," he said. "As educators, we have a unique opportunity -- education will not always be a hot topic."
He is pleased with the criticism education is getting today. "Ten years ago," Cortinez said "there would be no criticism at all. This is a distinct window of opportunity in the spotlight for the educational community."
Cortinez also looked at the importance teachers get in today's society. "If people understood that teachers are charged with the responsibility of the growth of American minds, there would be more prestige in the profession. In some ways, it's on the same level as a doctor."
At the lecture, one senior asked what he could do to help public schools after he graduates. Cortinez responded to this vague question by giving the student the name of his jogging buddy, the chancellor of education for their city.
