Q and A: Richard DeLorenzo | Philanthropy in Ed. Reform

Q & A: Richard DeLorenzo

Winter 2003

photo, Richard DeLorenzo and President George W. Bush

President George W. Bush presents the Chugach School District with the 2001 Baldrige National Quality Award. With the president is Superintendent Richard DeLorenzo.
(Photo courtesy of Chugach School District)

Richard DeLorenzo is the Superintendent of the Chugach School District, based in Anchorage, Alaska. The district serves approximately 200 students scattered across 22,000 square miles in South Central Alaska, and has been the recipient of many high-profile grants and awards, including a 2001 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. DeLorenzo spoke with Northwest Education coeditor, Denise Jarrett Weeks at his office in Anchorage.

I'm interested in how your work with the business community started.

When we started out, we really wanted to get an accurate picture of our strengths and of our challenges. And in doing that, we went to all of our stakeholders and invited them to share with us what their thoughts were. And one of those stakeholders was the business community—I think so often in public education we don't even identify them as a stakeholder. And so we invited all of the decision makers from about 25 larger companies in Alaska to come together.

Even companies outside your local area?

Absolutely. Federal Express, Alaska Airlines, British Petroleum, Arco—very large, multinational corporations, because we wanted to hear their perspective, not just on the students we produce, but on other situations they run into. It was very difficult getting them to come to the meeting, because so often they are invited to educational meetings, and then nothing ever happens. We talk and talk, but there is no action. So my job was to contact these people and try to get a decisionmaker at the table. We didn't want to have middle management. We wanted to have decisionmakers because they are the ones that experience the ebbs and flows of the corporate world and they have a feel for what is going on out there.

What level would that be, when you talk about decisionmakers?

Either the CEO or the Vice President. And basically we asked them three questions: What is going well with schools, are schools preparing kids for the 21st Century, and what is not going well. And they told us six things that need to be done differently. They said we had to do a better job in teaching basic skills; in transitioning our kids from K-12 into a post-secondary option; in character development; in developing personal and social work ethics; in goal setting; and they said we need to do a better job with the whole concept of utilizing technology.

And the other thing they said is (and businesses are the only ones that said this): You have to do a better job with accountability. They said: "The students aren't accountable, the teachers aren't accountable, the administration, the board, the parents—nobody is accountable. People just go through the system."

It was only the business constituents who raised that issue?

Yes, that was the difference. They were the only one of our stakeholders saying, "You guys don't do a very good job at that." And they are so right.

But that began our journey of how to create an educational environment that is accountable. And ever since that time, which is back in '94, we have been on that journey to get better and better and better, with tremendous obstacles. Our sites, our community schools, are very challenged from years of oppression, years of poverty and unemployment. So to have the success we've had is really remarkable. And the key to that success has been that we have a clear vision and we really try to get people to buy into that vision and be a partner in the direction we are going.

It was of the utmost importance to you, it seems, to reach every stakeholder. Are the stakeholders all equal, or are there "first among equals?" Where does the business community rank among stakeholders?

There are really three different key stakeholder groups that we focus on, and they all have a different part to play in our road map. Staff is one, and by staff I mean our classified, certified administrators. They have really the most buy-in to what we are doing. The second group would be our communities, our parents, our students. They would have the second most buy-in to what we are doing because we really listen to their voice. Then the third group is the businesses and the people outside of our communities, and hat would include the post-secondary people, businesses, and the military. So those are kind of the rankings of how we do things.

So there is a kind of hierarchy, so to speak?

I don't know if it's fair to say hierarchy, but we are more exposed to our teaching staff on a daily basis, and then our kids would be right after that, because we listen to our kids first and foremost, as far as any of our stakeholder groups. We just have more time with them. Businesses don't have the time. But the way we involve businesses now—they are intimately involved in assessing and training and mentoring our kids, so it's very deep.

What is the best role that business can play in helping schools improve?

First, let me tell you the frustration businesses have. They definitely see the problem of losing good employees because kids come to them untrained. And their frustration is that they can't get leverage points in the public sector, in the education system, to make change happen. I don't mean to be critical of my peers, but oftentimes it's just lip service. So that is the frustration they feel. And then here is this tiny little district that listened to them wholeheartedly and really did something. That creates tremendous animosity within our peer groups here.

Does it?

Yeah, I've had people scream at me at presentations I've done, because they feel businesses have no right to be in our school system.

Tell me a little more about that. What are their concerns?

It's a very closed group, education. They think they know what it's all about, and no one else should tell them what to do. It's part of our fiefdom mentality. We surround ourselves and we hunker down and we protect what we do. I think that is one of our biggest errors. We need to be open. We need to identify stakeholders and listen to them and make sure they have a voice in what we do, because we are preparing kids to go into the work force. And if we are not preparing kids to do that, then we should change the way we do business.

And here's what I think we have learned: businesses guide outcomes. They should guide the vision. They should guide what our organizations strive for in the future. By that I mean they should tell us: What are the critical skills their employees need to be successful? And it's not specific skills, but what we call transferable skills.

Tell me more about that.

That would be like goal setting, conflict resolution, working in teams, really doing this systemically, not programmatically. What I mean by that is that you have a system that supports it, not just one great teacher that does it. And in schools, when I go to visit them, people have the perception they're doing a good job, honoring the business world and teaching the skills their students will need in the 21st century, but in reality, it's not there. It's not even close to being there, even though they have a perception they're doing it.

In the Chugach Shool District, we really dive into how to prepare kids for the 21st century. What are the skills they need, regardless of their socioeconomic status and their economic background? So, getting back to your question, businesses need to help us by guiding what the outcome should be. And the other role they can play is as external evaluators, both of our students and of our organization.

When you talk about outcomes, does that mean that business should have some say about what gets taught?

Yes, I think so.

Tell me what that might be.

Well, let's say that businesses identify some transferable skills that every person in their organization needs to have. They need to be able to work in teams, for instance. Now they don't necessarily tell you how to teach that, but they say: "Set up a system where kids really become good team workers." So we identify what makes for a good team worker, and then we do a backward design and build that into our curriculum and into our reporting system. So, to give you a detailed example: if a really good team worker is someone who is perceptive of other people's feelings, is good at goal setting, is empathetic toward people, has good active listening and people skills, can paraphrase and rephrase things, those are great soft skills that kids need to have. Now, tell me, where do people teach that? Tell me a school system that teaches that. There isn't any. That's the problem.

So, the businesses don't directly influence the content? It's more how the curriculum is taught and the outcomes?

The outcomes. Meaning, if the kid could come and be a good team worker, that's what they need. They're not going to tell us how to do it, because they themselves are not sure, I think. It's up to us in education to have ownership in that. But that's what they have helped us with and really given us guidance and direction on.

What would the worst role for business be?

Well, if businesses were to get into the role of micromanaging and putting constraints on our creativity—that would be a challenge. But the only time I see that happening is when there is money associated with it. If there is a lot of money given to a district, then they will try to micromanage that money, but oftentimes businesses are so busy with their own endeavors, they don't have the time.

Also, I think businesses need to walk their talk. They talk about schools not being accountable, but there are a lot of businesses that aren't accountable. They need to be good role models. Look at Enron. That is really poor. They need to be good role models about having an ethical work environment, providing service to their communities, those types of things.

And the other thing that worries me a little bit is that the almighty dollar often drives the private sector, and sometimes you have to be careful with that. I mean, if you are going to drill oil in a pristine area, what really are the repercussions? 1000 years from now would this have been a wise decision? Some of those things are real sensitive.

You mentioned that if a lot of money were given to the district then there is the temptation businesses have to micromanage. How can schools create the best partnerships with businesses where they don't feel like they have to sell their soul to get that much-needed funding?

I think the success we've had with businesses all comes down to relationships: one-on-one. I think they see that we are credible, that we walk the talk, and I think they want to work with us because they know we will honor the agreement. If I had to give advice on that, I'd say it's about building relationships with people in that organization. It takes time, and it takes a focus on what you are trying to accomplish. I think that is the best way to build a partnership.

When you were first having these conversations with businesses, was there anything in particular that you had to raise their awareness about?

I don't think they clearly understood the equity issue. They were coming from a traditional system that worked well for them, and I think they didn't see the need as much as we did to change the system. They knew the system wasn't producing the numbers of kids, but their kids were okay because they protect their kids. But if a kid is coming from a home that doesn't have any food and doesn't have adequate shelter and nurturing, the kids don't have a chance. And so what they don't understand is that because these kinds of basic needs are not being fulfilled, we have to approach it differently.

I think they look at the educational system through a different colored lens, and a lot of them had the opinion—and this is where we educated them—that if we just have high expectations and drill the basic skills into the kids, they'll do fine. Well, what we helped them understand is that it's obviously much more complex than that. That might work well for 20% of the kids that come from "normal" families. But for the kids we deal with, that's the exception. We don't have kids like that.

What are your goals today?

The goal that I have is to try to replicate our successes in other districts. We have about 15 districts that are on that journey with us now.

Is that part of a Gates Foundation grant?

There are three pots of money they have given us. One is for leadership, one was for five new districts to replicate our program, and the other grant was for starting a foundation of districts.

And all three are from Gates?

Yes, and we've also gotten money from other sources to supplement that.

Do you have any ideas about what the future holds for business and education partnerships around the country? Is there a trend that's beginning? Are you at the head of the trend?

It's a loaded question because there are so many variables out there that I can't put my finger on. But if I had to make an educated guess, I would think that—I'm hoping this would happen—that businesses will become more transparent in the educational system.

What do you mean by that?

That businesses would work more hand-in-hand to build strong relationships. That we're really raising the kids together, and we're doing it in a holistic manner. The way schools are set up now is so artificial, and that's why kids don't want to be there. It's something we do to them, not something we do with them. In my dream, businesses would work hand-in-hand with schools. They would do mentoring, they would do job shadows, they would do internships on a systemic level, not a programmatic level. That would be my dream.

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