The Haverhill Education Coalition is the latest example of grassroots leadership emerging in a Gateway City to support public education. Founded in February to help promote and advance high-quality education in Haverhill, the coalition seeks to “increase parent and citizen engagement in the public schools, increase transparency of school data and information, promote higher standards and better resources for all students, and encourage data-driven and research-based decisions.”
The Coalition recently hosted a large public forum to focus the community’s energy on school improvement, as city leaders build a municipal budget for the coming year. While presenters heralded the many successes of the Haverhill Public Schools, they also called upon community members to pull together and do more to ensure that all students succeed.
The Haverhill Education Coalition is an example of the potential local accountability initiatives offer to improve school governance and performance. As we’ve written previously, the state’s limited accountability system is insufficient to achieve the Gateway City Vision for educational excellence. Each community needs to establish its own strategic plan and agreed upon performance measures to track outcomes, so that residents can stay on top of local officials to ensure that they successfully manage efforts to create exceptional learning environments.