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Text of Joe Stopka's Statement at April 9th Strategic Design Open Forum
My name is Joe Stopka. I am one of the concerned parents and taxpayers involved with the development of the web site www.watchd46schools.org. This website has been developed with the input from many people in Grayslake as well as input through our links from hundreds of concerned parents from school districts around the country. This site was specifically developed to provide research information for District 46 concerned parents on the issues related to the Strategic Design Process.Return to Watch District 46 Schools Home PageFortunately, with the advent of the Internet, information and research can be shared with greater efficiency and depth. This will hopefully be an asset to our entire community by keeping all of us well informed with the issues at hand.
On every sign that advertises new homes in our community the signs boldly and proudly say "GRAYSLAKE SCHOOLS." That must mean that others think we already have a good thing going. I believe as well as most others that we can always make improvements. But those improvements must very carefully come from principles that were established in our foundation and not from controversial theories and philosophies or fuzzy and nebulous thinking. You see my concern and the concern of a growing number of people in the community is not whether we should welcome change. It is that change should come through "Constant Improvement" based upon the good and rock solid foundation that has already been established in our community schools. "Dr. Anderson said himself that quality is a never ending commitment to improvement."
I believe that the school board's intention was good when they started to develop the idea of putting together a plan for the future of our schools. Although, after considerable research by others and myself I am convinced that they were not prepared to hire the company and the man that they did.
It is because of this reason that I am here tonight. The reason I am here tonight is to ask the school board and administration to put an immediate halt to the Strategic Design Process and our involvement with Mr. William Spady. The reason I want the board to immediately halt the process is because this process is not "Our" process for improvement. It is not Grayslake's process for improvement. It is not the Process of the parents and taxpayers of District 46. It is purely the Strategic Design Process of Mr. William Spady and his company Change Leaders.
Now if you have not researched William Spady and read his books like Paradigm Lost, and you if you have not studied his synopsis of Strategic Design that can be found in his article, "Transcending Educentric Achievement Through Strategic Design" and if you have not read his OBE philosophies and theories in nearly all his writings, then it will be difficult for you to think critically about the man, the process, and his philosophies on education reform.
In a recent email to the watchd46 web site from a school board member, an email that criticized a particular research internet link about other schools involved in similar situations, this school board member stated that, "It is incredibly important to look at any information with an understanding of the "perspective" of the writer." It is this kind of logic that is precisely the reason why there is concern over the selection of Mr. Spady and his organization, and it is for this reason that we need to stop and take another look at the process.
Last December, the School Board approved the hiring of William Spady of ChangeLeaders, at a cost not to exceed $23,000, to advise District 46 in the Strategic Design Process. In early February, Mr. Spady visited Grayslake for three days (at a cost of $2,000 per day) to help kickoff the program. William Spady is a sociologist and the self-proclaimed father of Outcome-Based Education (OBE). He is arguably one of the most controversial proponents of school reform in the US and possibly the world. And once again if you not have read Mr. Spady's books and materials you will have a difficult time understanding some of the terminology, jargon and clichés that he uses to influence school districts.
Now, the school board and administration will adamantly argue that they are not adopting OBE and its core principles. And they will say that they have not done anything yet with The Strategic Design Plan. They will claim that it is up to the community to decide its direction. But if you read Dr. Anderson's own memo to the community dated March 2001 where he lays out the results from the February meeting with Mr. Spady, you will clearly see that the results come from a specific line of questioning that he feels are the only type of questions to ask (he calls them non-educentric questions). And this is why I say that William Spady has already had a profound influence on the board and most seriously the administration.
If you read Mr. Spady's own writings, and not the views of anyone else, you will see that you cannot separate Mr. Spady the consultant and Mr. Spady the facilitator from Mr. Spady's personal designs and desires. This leads me to the conclusion that Mr. Spady as a consultant cannot be objective in his guidance of our school district and thus he will inevitably be self-serving and filled with conflicts of interest. He can never in my opinion serve our community well. By his own admission he is not an unbiased, objective consultant. He is arguably one of the most controversial names in school reform over the past 20+ years.
My question to the school board is, did you research Mr. Spady and his background and references? Did you read his books like Paradigm Lost? Have you read his synopsis on Strategic Design in his article called "Transcending Educentric Achievement Through Strategic Design"? What type of research did you do? And if you did and came up with as much controversy as I did then what benefits did you see that Mr. Spady could provide our school district?
It is because of all the information that is available about Mr. Spady's well-publicized controversial and unwavering position on school reform that has caused the growing concern about the amount of influence that Mr. Spady will have and apparently has already had in our school district. I believe we should halt the process in its current form and go back to step one by involving the entire community in the crucial primary goal setting stage. This goal setting stage should include evaluating the current academic performance of our students vs. other top-level school districts. Look at where our shortcomings are and then investigate how we can lift our performance and standards to equal or surpass that of the top school district in the country.
Finally, I want the board and the community to know that I am personally not pleased with the language that the administration chose in announcing this Forum. In the announcement that was sent home with our children regarding this event the administration claims that there were Rumors being spread about the process that the board and administration are taking. Does that mean that anytime a parent or taxpayer expresses their concern about the school district that they are just starting rumors or just gossiping?
I believe that the board and the administration should foster open communications with all in the community. Not just a few chosen people who are selected to participate in a closed-door conference. The board should encourage the entire community to provide open, frank and candid comment about all aspects of our school district without fear of criticism. Freedom of speech is not gossip and not starting rumors. It is our right.