Durham Herald-Sun June 22, 2006

HEADLINE: Summit tackles making Durham schools better

BY KELLY HINCHCLIFFE

Jun 22, 2006 : 6:23 pm ET

DURHAM -- About 300 community members converged on Hillside High School on Thursday to share their strategies for improving the Durham Public Schools system, whether it was higher pay for teachers or more hands-on learning experiences for students.

"Education Summit 2006," hosted by the Durham Public Education Network, invited different sections of the community to talk about past progress and set new priorities for the district.

Some participants had very specific visions, such as Brian Azar, a substitute teacher and member of Durham's Human Relations Commission. He was one of 25 people participating in a breakout session about teacher quality, retention and support.

Money is not the main reason teachers leave, according to Azar, who said disruptive and disrespectful students are often the problem. His suggestion was to hold an orientation session for students on the first day of school to give them an overview of the school and explain what is expected of them. Those students who break the rules will be moved to different classes and taught separately.

Eric Hirsch, executive director of The Center for Teaching Equality, said his organization's research shows that teachers want more time to plan and work collaboratively with their peers. Durham has already embraced this, he said, by allowing veteran teachers to mentor newer staff members.

"Durham is a trailblazer of providing new teacher support," he said.

Other suggestions that came from the session included: sabbaticals for teachers, reducing paperwork, hiring more male teachers, increasing salaries, overtime pay and making sure teachers feel honored.

Lavonia Allison, chairwoman of the Durham Committee on the Affairs of Black People, also attended the session and questioned who could implement the changes suggested by the participants.

Reggie Smith, interim director of DPEN, said his organization will take the comments from Thursday's summit, compile a report and share it with Durham's school board members at a later date.

What the public says has a "powerful impact," according to Ryan Rowe, DPEN's community programs coordinator.

"This has been an ongoing process of engaging the community," he said. "We hope that [they are] here for the long haul."

Incoming Superintendent Carl Harris also hoped to capitalize on the public's turnout by asking them to stay involved.

"I will make the assumption that this is an affirmation of your commitment," he said, addressing the audience. "I hope we can have more and more of these [summits] as time goes on."

Besides adults, students also participated in the summit and shared their opinions with the audience. Some high school students said more time between classes and fewer rules would make their schools better.