Back to school: in the realm of education, regionalism shines best in the concept of sharing—in such areas as funding, best teaching practices and research findings

South Florida CEO, June, 2004 by Richard Westlund

Phil McNally knows that South Florida's public schools need help. As a Broward executive for the financial company RBC Centura, McNally volunteered his time and expertise through a regional program called the Partnership to Advance School Success (PASS). In particular, he worked as a mentor at Dillard Elementary School in Fort Lauderdale, helping Principal Patricia Dixon move Dillard's rating from a "D" to an "A" on Florida's statewide school assessment program.

"Without an educated population, the future workforce just won't be here," says McNally, who also serves as chairman of Communities and Schools in Broward, a dropout prevention program. "The business community can bring new perspectives to the school systems throughout South Florida--the education machine can't do the whole job."

With more than 775,000 students in the Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach public school systems, regional educational reform is a complex task--even without factoring in dozens of South Florida colleges, universities, vocational schools and workforce training programs.

But today, education experts say there is a growing spirit of cooperation among the region's three public school districts, including sharing best practices for improving school leadership, teacher training and parental involvement.

A key driving force for improving student performance on a regional basis has been the South Florida Annenberg Challenge and its successor organization, the Council for Educational Change (CEC). Beginning in 1997, the six-year, $100 million Annenberg initiative funded 102 innovative program grants in the tri-county area, serving 378 schools with more than 280,000 students.

The concept was part of a $500 million national program, launched by Ambassador Walter Annenberg, to make improvements in the way schools operate, teachers teach, and students learn. For South Florida--one of the first regions in the nation to receive Annenberg funds--a $33 million grant was matched with equal dollars, respectively, from the public and private sector. Some projects are still in early stages, while others are well underway or completed. The most successful projects are now being expanded or replicated.

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"South Florida is an ideal laboratory for urban educational reform." said the late Leonard Miller, who was chairman of Lennar Corp. and served as chairman of the Annenberg Challenge. "We have one of the largest, most dynamic and diverse student populations in the country. Our teachers, administrators, students, parents, colleges, universities and businesses are a wellspring of fresh ideas for improving our three public school systems."

Today, Annenberg's findings are being utilized by the Council for Educational Change, which has focused on implementing both in-person and online training, as well as information programs such as the PASS alliance between businesses and schools. "We have learned through the research that strong principal leadership makes a difference," says CEC executive director Elaine Liftin, who also directed the Annenberg challenge. "Quality professional development programs involving the business community, as well as programs that encourage greater parental involvement, also impact student achievement."

In addition to PASS, another example of an effective program is the weeklong Summer Leadership Academy for school principals from throughout the state. "The academy helps principals focus on ways they can become more effective leaders," says Liftin. "They leave the academy with a stronger professional network and their own unique personal leadership plans."

For South Florida business leaders like McNally, a regional approach to school reform also makes sense for high-school-level vocational programs and overall skills training. "For instance, there may be vocational programs that would attract students from throughout the region," he says. "And if we can match the right students to the right training programs, the result would be fewer kids filling up the juvenile justice system, as well as a better trained workforce."

That view is shared by the leaders of the various South Florida divisions of Workforce Florida, the state organization which provides funds for the training and re-training of employees to meet employment demands. With limited funds--about $100 million for Monroe, Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach combined--workforce training is increasingly being viewed as a regional issue.

"Those of us who work on training for employers need to collaborate more." says Mason Jackson, president and CEO of WorkForce One, the Broward County division. "We need to offer a 'No Wrong Doors' approach to serving the South Florida job seeker and employer." Regional board members of the WorkForce development programs meet bimonthly to examine legislative priorities and share innovative ideas, while business services personnel gather quarterly to discuss coordination of services.

An obvious area of educational regionalism is South Florida's higher education institutions, which attract students from throughout the region--and beyond. "As far as we are concerned, the county lines do not exist," says Nova Southeastern University's J. Preston Jones, associate dean of academic affairs at the H. Wayne Huizenga School of Business and Entrepreneurship. In addition to its main campus in Davie, NSU has learning centers in Kendall, North Miami Beach, Boca Raton and Palm Beach Gardens. "We send professors to those sites and teach business courses," Jones says.