Thanks for your work on Kent Forward. As a parent I appreciate what you are trying to do. Here are some thoughts/questions I have regarding Kent Forward’s efforts to enhance the educational, economic, and social well being of Kent County:
– Create a Kent County Economic “Manhattan Project”. Educational, economic, and social well being are inter-connected. How will Kentforward address economic and social well being? Here is a link to MIT’s living wage calculator with information about Kent County https://livingwage.mit.edu/counties/24029 Of the 22 typical hourly wages found in the county listed on this site, almost 50% are below the calculated living wage for adults supporting one child. According to the DBED economic facts for Kent County 25% of the jobs in Kent County are either at the college or the hospital system and the average wage for those working at those institutions is below the living wage for adults supporting one child. 30% of the work in Kent County is the leisure/hospitality and trades industry and the average wage is ½ the living wage for adults supporting one child. Infact, the only industries whose average wage is at or above the living wage for an adult supporting one child are local government, manufacturing, and professional and business services which makes up 25% of the jobs in the county. So getting by in Kent is hard for a lot of people and there doesn’t seem to be a bold, innovative, and wholistic approach to improving people’s situation. The first step is to increase the average wage of the two largest employers and go from there.
– Learn from great schools in rural areas: I believe that schools can be great even if many of its students are in rural, poor areas (ie: Crellin Elementary School in Garrett County is tied for the best school in Maryland with 87% of the students qualified for free/reduced lunch. So while we need to keep working on improving the average wage and increasing economic opportunity our schools can be better. Could a group of teachers, parents, administrators from Kent County plan a visit to schools in Maryland with similar demographics who are successful (ranked 150 and better)? Church Hill Elementary is #153 – what is a school only 9 miles away from Garnett doing better? Also, visit private schools. I am most familiar with Friendship Montessori School in Worton (who’s teachers regularly visit other schools as a learning opportunity). I also believe that FMS has been one of the biggest contributors of well-prepared early elementary school students in Kent for the past 20 years. Ask any teacher in Kent who has taught children who attended FMS and they will tell you that they stand out. So if this is the case why not a Montessori program in the public schools? Delaware has one: https://www.christina.k12.de.us/News/2011/10-FirstPublicMontessoriProgram.htm
– Cultivate local leadership that truly understands the needs of Kent : Kent is a very unique place. It was one of the last counties in the country to integrate their public schools and to this day we still find blatant racial and economic inequality in many parts of our community. Very few racial minorities own businesses in the county and Kent has the 2nd highest poverty rate (Baltimore is highest) and yet some of the wealthiest residents in Maryland owns lives/owns property in Kent. Also, because we are a small district we tend to not have enough funding even if we get more per student than most districts. We need leaders who understand this context and so it seems to me that the leadership for this school district must come from within the community. They have a better appreciation of the uniqueness. They need to be people who have worked in a Kent County classroom, developed programs for its schools, spent real time with the kids in this county…but from what I see there is no leadership cultivation and therefore no obvious successor within the system to fill roles like superintendent when they become open. This seems to be the same for principals. I think the HS lucked out with Tracy Williams – but we need more than luck. Our leadership gaps are hurting us.
– Create a meaningful vision for our schools – like a “I have a dream” type of vision. Crellin Elementary School’s vision is on the first page of their website and it says “All students attending Crellin School, given the time and support from staff, parents, and community, will become life long learners in our ever changing society.” Garnett’s vision lists things the school will do but not say what their vision is for the students in the school. Schools need to call their shots and say what it is they are out to create. Here’s my vision for Kent County Schools: “Students attending Kent County Schools will become reflective people and autonomous learners able to think, care, imagine, understand, and adapt. They will be prepared to do things but also be able to decide what is worth doing. They will be able to make fuller, deeper, and more accurate sense of their experiences now so they can be important contributors to society in the future.”
I have conducted community visionings through out the Delmarva Peninsula including Chestertown through my project Sustainable Delmarva. The goal of Sustainable Delmarva is to increase economic, social, environmental, and governmental sustainability on Delmarva. Here is the final report for the Chestertown World Café:
Please contact me if there I can do to help with this effort.
Jenn Hicks
Sustainable Delmarva
Carla Massoni says
Thank you for this most informative editorial.