3 months later...

It's been three months since my last post. Since then the RLA has visited SCAG and Orange County (I didn't attend the LA tour). I walked away from SCAG with a stronger understanding of the connection between region/geography, environmental considerations, transformation, and demography. For instance, San Diego is not part of the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG). I learned that environmental quality has a lot to do with this exception. That is, all other major counties in Southern California are part of SCAG and one of their common denominators is the challenge of environmental quality (e.g., air quality). On the other hand, the Orange County visit demonstrated what is possible in the Inland Empire. Orange County is full of industry clusters and lots of skilled talent that is often imported from other regions of the U.S. or other countries. We heard about the connection between a skilled labor force and quality schooling. I walked away with the impression that a strong, educated work force will demand a high quality school system. And of course its never that simple. Economics, politics, policy, and leadership always play a vital role. I also wondered about the pockets that are struggling especially low-income communities of color, especially when the County will be majority-minority by 2025. I wonder what it would take to inspire an influx of industry clusters in our region?

Why this blog? Engaging with Excellence

After spending the last several years working directly with schools and communities serving low-income and mostly students of color in Boston, Miami, and now the Inland Empire, I have observed an interesting phenomenon in our public schools. I call it a Excellence Paradox and is the subject of a forthcoming book. I call it a paradox for several reasons. For instance, while schools and communities are often working tirelessly to meet the needs of students, there are very few times when I've seen schools or communities come together to stop, recognize, celebrate, and learn from excellence. In fact, many schools and communities, especially those who have significantly struggled to meet achievement "targets" as defined by seriously questionable policy mandates, have struggled and continue to struggle to engage in conversations about excellence. This is due, in part, to the larger policy climate that punishes schools communities for not meeting targets, and hardly ever asks if these schools and communities have ever been given an equitable opportunity to meet these targets. But, this is not the purpose of this blog. Conversely, I'm working on ways to counter the Excellence Paradox by directly engaging schools and communities in efforts via Excellence Campaigns. The PRAXIS Project has been engaging stakeholders in processes to define excellence, recognize it, celebrate it, and most importantly learn from it. Several projects are underway across the Inland Empire. This blog aims to explore the extent to which Excellence Campaigns can reach beyond schools. This effort has been inspired by my recent involvement with the Inland Empire Economic Partnership (IEEP) as a member of the Regional Leadership Academy (RLA). The RLA is a group of 20 local leaders who are committed to improving the economic and general quality of life for people across the Inland Empire (San Bernardino and Riverside Counties). I'm particularly interested in bridging education with the many sectors that directly influence it (housing, employment and workforce development, environmental issues, health, and many others). This year-long RLA specifically provides opportunities for us to meet local, regional, and statewide leaders and policymakers and learn from other regions across California. My goal this year is to engage my RLA colleagues, IE community stakeholders, and my larger network across the U.S. to explore ways to respond to the many challenges facing our communities through an excellence lens.