Urban School Board Assault: Accountability & Sustainability

*Rescheduled Show*

Last week's show was postponed due to technical difficulites.  Please join us for an exciting show discussing the challenges facing urban school boards in today's political climate.  Ms. Minnie Forte-Brown, Chair- Council of Urban Boards of Education is our featured guest.  The troubled political atmosphere in our nation's centers has created a wave of discontent with school board members bearing much of the blame for low performing schools and a lack-luster accountability system.  Prominent members of the business community have suggested that school boards, particular in urban communities, have out-lived their usefulness.  Recently, Mayor Bloomberg of New York City contributed $1M to a school reform coalition in Los Angeles supportive of efforts to "shake up the system of 33,000 teachers". 

This show will be two segments.  The first with a special call-in guest, Steve Zimmer (LAUSD School Board Member) who was the direct target of Mayor Bloomberg's donation.  We will discuss his victory and what the donation signals for what is to come in future elections.  The second segment will highlight the current sentiment among urban school board members and what advocacy and training is happening at the national level to support the work and development of urban school board members.

Minnie Forte-Brown is a member of the Durham (NC) Board of Education and is a retired speech-language pathologist.  The Council of Urban Boards of Education supports school board members in urban communities in sharing best practices to improve student achievement. CUBE is a program of the National School Boards Association.