Undoing the Damage: Repairing a Broken School District

By Antonio Corrales

Undoing the Damage: Repairing a Broken School District is a book that portrays the struggles of public education in the US by telling the story of a small urban public school district facing closure by the states Department of Education based on its academic and financial performance. During the first part of the book, the author narrates his memoir as one of the main protagonists of a remarkable adventure where a school district full of minorities and economically disadvantaged students battled against the state educational system, the local politics, and its own culture in order to survive and remain open. The second part of the book discusses eight research-based lessons taken from the initial story one can use to repair a broken school district and/or create highly functional organizations.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Jul 8, 2016
• ISBN: 9781524523480

Antonio Corrales

DR. ANTONIO CORRALES is a university professor and doctoral program director in educational leadership at the University of Houston Clear Lake. He is the first Latino to be in charge of the doctoral program in educational leadership within the University of Houston system. Before arriving to America, he ran for governor in Venezuela at 25 years of age, which forced him to abandon his native country for political reasons. He is a former teacher, campus administrator, and central office administrator with deep expertise in research, planning, and training. He has several years of experience in providing managerial leadership and administrative support to various departments in a variety of school districts as well as both private and public organizations. He has served in executive and administrative positions at public school districts and higher education institutions, as well as managing and advising multimillion-dollar projects for multinational companies. In addition, Dr. Corrales owns a successful consulting company, Sterling Evaluation & Assessment, which focuses on strategic marketing, program evaluation, and school turnaround. Besides publishing articles on at-risk student populations and school turnaround, Dr. Corrales is the author of the books Undoing the Damage: Repairing a Broken School District; Always Look 3 Stoplights Ahead: 9 Principles for Establishing Successful Schools; Frank, A Political Monster: 12 Rules to Succeed in Organizations; and Dear Students...: Weekly Thoughts to Establish a Growth Mindset. During the past years, Dr. Corrales has focused most of his leadership efforts and research on systematic brain development and measurement in terms of student executive functions within PK through 12th grades in public schools. Dr. Corrales has dedicated most of his time to improving the types of individuals public schools are producing in terms of work ethic, grit, capability to adapt effectively to new and challenging situations, emotional intelligence, military readiness, career and college readiness, and academic achievement. Finally, Dr. Corrales has established a variety of social media platforms to communicate with his students and educators around the world. Dr. Corrales earned a bachelor's degree in civil engineering from the Universidad Metropolitana in Venezuela, and his MBA from Reutlingen University of Technology & Business in Germany. Following Dr. Corrales’ move to the U.S., he earned his master's and doctoral degrees in Educational Leadership at the University of Houston Clear Lake.

Book preview

UNDOING THE DAMAGE

REPAIRING A BROKEN SCHOOL DISTRICT

ANTONIO CORRALES

Copyright © 2016 by Antonio Corrales.

Library of Congress Control Number:   2016910788

ISBN:   Hardcover   978-1-5245-1508-9

   Softcover   978-1-5245-1507-2

   eBook   978-1-5245-2348-0

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Rev. date: 03/07/2017

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CONTENTS

MY STORY

1 The Beginning

2 District History and Demographics

3 Arriving at the District

4 Not Playing with a Full Deck

5 Can’t Hold a Candle to School Finance

6 Actions Speak Louder Than Words

7 No Method to the Madness

8 Annexation Firsthand

9 Closure is a Hot Potato

10 Barking Up the Wrong Tree

11 Don’t Count Your Chickens Before the Eggs Have Hatched

12 Speaking of the Devil!

13 Drastic Times Call for Drastic Measures

14 You Can’t Fight City Hall

15 Adding Insult to Injury

16 After the Storm

17 Keep Your Eyes on the Ball

18 Can’t Judge a Book by Its Cover

19 Elvis Has Left the Building

LESSONS LEARNED

1 Building Strong Leadership Teams

2 Stay True to Your Belief System but Be Smart

3 Solid and Consistent Human Resources Practices

a Get Everything in Writing

b Analyze Human Capital

c Prepare a Plan for Employee Leaves of Absence

d Prepare a Plan for Employee Health Insurance and Other Benefits

e Prepare Employee’s Final Payoff

f Prepare Termination of Employee Contracts

4 Become an Expert on School Finance and Curriculum

a Keep Academic Performance as Your Main Priority

b Understand the State and Federal Accountability System

c Curriculum Delivery and Planning Process

d Building Capacity In-House

e Understand and Implement a Budgetary Process

f Know That Money Does Matter

g Be Mindful of the Dynamic between the Receiving District and the State

h Obtaining a Doctorate in Educational Leadership May Be Necessary

5 Be Ready to Build Your Stamina

a Make Sure That You Have Your Ducks in a Row

b Learn How to Deal With Rejection

c Be Prepared To Deal with Witch Hunts

d Keep Doing Your Job, and Good Things Will Happen

6 Be Familiar with School Law

a Recognizing When the Battle Is Lost

b Be Mindful of the Dynamic between the Closing and Receiving Districts

7 Establish Effective Public Relations Strategies

a Know the Relationship between the Superintendent and the Board Has Its Limits

b Look for Support from Other Superintendents and Legislators

8 Establish Effective Systems

a Defining Struggling and Highly Effective Districts

b Locate the Problem within the District

c Create Solutions: Have a Strategic Plan

d Establish a Systematic Approach to Track Progress

e Establish Effective Channels of Communication

f Establish a Culture of Trust, Accountability, and Celebration of Small Successes

g Redefine the Problem, Adjust Solutions, and Communicate

h Understand Program Evaluation’s Theories

9 Think Big: Define and Share Major Goals and Visions

MY STORY

This book is

dedicated to all my fellow educators around the world…

1

The Beginning

I opened the door to my future office and saw a small round table, a couple of chairs, and a desk. As I surveyed the room, I remember thinking, this isn’t that bad. The superintendent and staff were in shock because I did not say anything negative about my new office. In fact, I think I might have even said I actually liked it. Then I remember hearing them comment on me being the typical man who didn’t care about the appearance of things. Such things included several dusty piles of old reports, books, papers, and other unorganized stuff: the result of years and years of negligence and careless organizational skills. It took me an entire week to clean the place.

Little did I know that opening that door signified my initial encounter with a new school district that would turn out to present one of my most challenging and gratifying journeys. There were many times that I regretted having accepted this position. After all, our school district was being annexed by a neighboring one. The annexation was anything but neighborly, however. We were all going to lose our jobs, and the students were thrown under the bus. At times, there were rays of hope. For instance, as time passed during the annexation process, the new interim school district superintendent, Dr. Ronald Carver, started to open up more and more. It was as if he had realized how complicated and overwhelming the annexation of our district by another had been for everyone. It is a process that unavoidably impacts every aspect of a community, especially when occurring in a small town such as Stellar.

Dr. Carver started to rely more and more on his executive team, gathering more and more information about the district to acquire a better understanding of exactly how the district ended up in this situation. It was quite surprising because everybody thought that Dr. Carver had been brought up to speed, but apparently he hadn’t. He used to conduct cabinet meetings every Wednesday, and in one of those meetings, he asked us why we thought our school district was closing. I told him my opinion about the economics of the local area and how I felt the decision was based on those facts. He pulled down a district map. After analyzing the distribution of the land between the new and old districts, he paused, breathless: Oh my God… all this because of this land… It is not about the kids… It’s not about education. It’s all about the money… Oh my God . . .

During those times of regret, however, I thought about Napoleon, Washington, Buddha, Gandhi, Einstein, Eleanor Roosevelt, Marie Curie, Christ, Mother Teresa, Moses, Martin Luther King, Mandela, Aung San Suu Kyi, and other great people who changed history while encountering adversity. I thought about the moments when these great ones had struggled and what they must have been thinking. I am sure they did not enjoy the suffering, and I am also sure that they had plenty of moments when they doubted their own purpose and mission.

Nevertheless, there was something that kept them going: a sense of right, a need to accomplish a task, the desire to leave a legacy, or simply a conviction that the task was larger than them. This analysis consoled me during those trying times and allowed me to sustain, focus, and continue my journey. On the other hand, it also helped that I did not have many other viable career options. After all, my consulting business was just starting, and I made ends meet through a part-time teaching job at a local university. At the same time, I was paying off a substantial home mortgage and supporting two teens. I saw no other choice but to keep moving forward.

I feel that God places us in such situations for particular reasons, even when we cannot explain them. Over and over again, we tend to ask ourselves why, but most of the time, the truth is related to growth and being ready for a particular test. Most of the time, we are able to move on to another chapter of our life when we are ready and it is the right moment. I guess I was not ready at that particular time. I had to keep moving forward, so that is what I did.

The names of the districts, characters, locations, references, and situations are totally fictitious and mere products of my imagination. Any similarity with true events is pure coincidence. In any case, I believe that my professional journey in public education not only has made me a better administrator, educator, father, community member, business entity, and professional but, overall, also has made me a better person. I am confident that regardless of your journeys or your own field, this book will allow you to realize that you are constantly writing your own story.

Table of Terminologies

2

District History and Demographics

While reading the book, you may acquire a feeling that I am constantly moving my analysis and judgment in regard to the involved stakeholders, depending on the situation. In fact, you may certainly perceive a lack of consistency within my positions throughout the different scenarios. Throughout the book, I am constantly reassessing my thinking process, and it is actually a reflection of the day by day of any person. I believe that it would be a fantasy to assume that opinions, judgements, and analysis do not vary according to the circumstances. The reality is that we may think differently today than yesterday when facing different situations. This book is a reflection of that reality and my imagination.

Stellar Independent School District (SISD) is a small urban school district enrolling approximately 1,700 students: predominantly economically disadvantaged and African American. Twenty years ago, the school district reached its highest enrollment: five thousand students. Through most of its early history, the school district was known as an excellent academic institution as well as a football powerhouse. For instance, in 1990, the State Education Institution (SEI) recognized Stellar ISD because of its students’ excellent academic performance. Since the early 2000s, however, the district has been in clear decline academically and financially. During the past several years, official reports have portrayed a struggling district with decreasing enrollment, falling standardized test scores, and severe financial problems. The general opinion expressed in various mass media and Internet blogs has emphasized the dysfunction of the district’s leadership. Combative board elections, hostile relationships between trustees and administrative staff, and dubious board actions have resulted in resignations, firings, and lawsuits, portraying a picture of a community in disarray.

3

Arriving at the District

When I became assistant superintendent of personnel and administration, I had already been in the educational field for fifteen years and in the corporative world for several years before that. For the most part, it had been a positive and rewarding journey. Prior to coming to the Stellar School District, I already had six years of experience in human resources (HR), along with having had the opportunity to direct and manage several educational programs and initiatives, including multimillion development projects for multinational organizations.

As I was finishing my doctorate in educational leadership with a superintendent certification, I was teaching graduate-level research, applied statistics, and HR at a local university. Furthermore, I was consulting as a school district program evaluator. Throughout my career as an educator, I have had the opportunity to be a teacher and an administrator at various levels: campus, district, and central office. My various leadership positions and curriculum knowledge have allowed me to work successfully with administrators, teachers, parents, and students.

Prior to my educational career, I worked in the corporative world as a general and project manager, supervising more than three thousand employees from a variety of educational backgrounds and assignments. I participated in contract negotiations with unions, developed and implemented staffing guidelines, handled grievances, and managed the personnel budget. I created a strategic plan for the company that drove profitability and enhanced market share. I also demonstrated my ability to deliver major projects on or ahead of schedule and on a budget. At that particular point, my credentials included an MBA from a respected university in Europe, a master’s in educational management from a local university, and a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from a private university in South America.

It is amazing, all the things that immigrants have to experience throughout their journeys. Such a statement is not a plea for pity or mercy but merely a reflection based on my own reality. Immigrants have to live through permanent detachments and a lack of sense of belonging. Nevertheless, the immigrant tends to develop a sense of resiliency. It becomes essential to succeed. That reality does not free us from pain or bad memories but helps us understand that the most important factor in life is living in the present. We take one day at a time, and when possible, we take in the fresh air touching our faces as we walk. When I think about all the people I have lost, all the friends, all those moments from the past, it all seems like an old movie even when, deep in my heart, I know that they were really there. I know that it was all very real.

Immigrants are walking orphans who learn how to deal with life without getting caught up in the analysis. We move on, trying to find a better life. We want to be better. We want our kids to be better. Most importantly, we are willing to die trying.

Stellar ISD was an opportunity for me to further my career and bring it to the next level. Education was not my first career, and at that point, I had been in the United States for fifteen years. I am from South America, and I came to