John J. Cassel is an IASB field services director serving DuPage, North Cook and Starved Rock divisions.
Illinois political culture has been diagnosed with a life-threatening illness: corruption, cronyism and deal-making. The state’s attorney general’s office and state legislators have sought to administer a very strong prescription: sunshine.
Given Illinois’ history and the current national culture, transparency and openness have become huge values for public institutions.
School districts and school boards have generally not been the biggest part of the problem, but they will need to be part of the solution. Fairly or not, all public schools have been caught in the larger net cast by the state’s curative efforts. Luckily, school districts may be poised to “set the pace” in establishing a more healthy culture.
Much time and energy, with accompanying legal fees, have been spent considering what it will mean for public bodies to comply with the new provisions of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The focus appropriately has been on details, changes and nuances of the law.
My reflections take another track: transparency and openness as keys to maintaining public trust in public institutions.
There was a time when communities, school districts and school boards could presume mutual trust and goodwill. Unfortunately, in the current environment, wise boards know they must find ways to move toward their community and build trust. They cannot presume trust and simply go on with business as usual.
The shortest, easiest way to transparency and openness is to work in ways that allow communities to truly hear the story that each and every school has to tell. But schools must learn to tell their story in a way that the public can hear it, and appreciate it.
This is exactly what most board members want. In fact, many school board members say they chose to run for the board precisely to help the district better connect to their community.
What can districts hope to achieve by working in a way that makes their intent transparent?
• Districts, when they are observed by their “public,” want the community to be able to see what the district’s goals are and what the board cares deeply about. The community must be able to see the board’s values, beliefs and what it understands its mission to be. Further, the community should be able to see connections between the district’s mission, vision, beliefs and the programs it offers to students and families. One board job is to make sure the dots are connected. If the board can’t connect the dots and tell a straightforward story, it’s unlikely the people in the community will be able to do what the board cannot.
• The public needs to be able to see how decisions are made. That means access to both process and content. What’s the current situation in the district? What’s the data? What are the values the board is trying to embody in this decision? What are the ends the district is trying to achieve? How does the board go about making the decision? Can the public watch? Are there parts of the process to which the public does not have appropriate access, and if so, how might that process be more transparent?
• Districts want their communities to feel like participants, to feel like the public schools belong to them. The education of successive generations is more than one isolated institution can achieve. We are all in this together, so public schools need the resources and creativity of the entire community.
Meeting the legal requirements of FOIA is a necessary foundation to achieving these results. However, simply following FOIA and its new provisions will not get schools where they want to go.
What would a board look like if it was more transparent and made those vital connections for the community? That picture would go way beyond the legalities of FOIA … not by way of pandering to the extreme critics and FOIA junkies who are all too prevalent, but by way of a style and practice that is appropriately attentive to how the district is viewed.
What are the behaviors and best practices that lead to open, transparent schools?
• Boards need to learn to “speak ends.” That is, the board should talk first about what it is trying to achieve: what the district cares about and the benefits it offers to students and their families.
• Boards need to connect the dots. Many times boards assume folks can see the connections between intended ends and programs. Boards need to find ways to make those connections explicit.
• Boards need to work proactively to communicate their message directly to the community through websites and social media. Gone are the days of relying on traditional media outlets to provide comprehensive coverage of the board and the district. When the district’s story goes untold, citizens will make their own assumptions.
• Listen. Beyond speaking transparently and openly, it is important to listen with a sensitive ear. The connections for the community involve the values that the community holds for its children. One of the most important jobs the board can do is to listen to what the community says it wants.
• Create a culture of transparency and openness on the board itself. The board always sets the pace. By nurturing good relationships, exhibiting a willingness to take on tough issues and developing shared leadership, the board can create a transparent culture throughout the district and the community.
While some may still see FOIA as the enemy at the gate, perhaps the Act is really a friend, or at least a welcome ally. The payoffs from an open, transparent district will be substantial.
When trust and good communication exist between the district and community in an atmosphere of sunshine, most folks will not feel the need to ask for more. And as Bob Woodward of Watergate fame has said, “Democracies die in darkness.”