Why Friends of Bedford Failed in D.C. - Lead Partners were not the answer

Posted at 5:32 PM ET, 12/ 7/2010


Was Friends of Bedford ready for Dunbar?

By Bill Turque

As promised, DCPS moved Monday to bolster safety and security at Dunbar High School, which officials say has suffered from a lack of both under Friends of Bedford, the outside operator hired by former Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee.

The package includes additional police presence, more experienced school security guards, and extra administrative types from the school system's central office. A team of social workers met with every English class (to make sure they covered all students) to talk about sexual behavior and respect in the wake of the alleged assault that took place at the school last month. http://voices.washingtonpost.com/dcschools/2010/12/was_friends_of_bedford_ready_f.html

Former DC Chancellor and Education Deformist, Michelle Rhee brought in Friends of Bedford to reform Dunbar High School, "once the pride of black Washington" as Turque puts it.  Bedford had an excellent pedigree stemming from the groups' five years of experience at Bedford High School in Brooklyn, NY, a highly regarded public school with an intense emphasis on college preparedness.  But the Friends built Bedford from scratch while at Dunbar they assumed leadership and operations of a failing school. 

Leonard built Bedford from scratch. Dunbar, once the educational pride of black Washington, had been a failing school for years. Enrollment is nearly twice that of Bedford (750 vs 400) and when he arrived, students were housed in a sprawling '70s-style building with concrete ramps and no walls for classrooms, part of an "open" design in vogue a generation ago.


Bedford was an application school, where students were screened by the city's education department for grades, standardized test scores and attendance. The names of incoming ninth graders were also available to school officials in May or June, allowing the staff time to reach out to new families.

At Dunbar, Friends of Bedford is required to accept anyone with the legal right to attend, including students from Walker Jones and Emery education campuses, some of whom are multiple grade levels behind in reading when they enter Dunbar. Also destabilizing, Leonard said, was the steady stream of late enrollments after the start of school in August, which interfere with attempts to establish some continuity of culture.  -- Turque

A day after Turque's post ran in the Washington Post, Kaya Henderson, Rhee's replacement ousted the Friends of Bedford, just three years after Rhee had hired them.  In another twist, Henderson brough back the former principal Stephen Jackson, who was removed by Bedford in the 09-10 school year to head the new leadership team.

Henderson's action underscores the extreme difficulty of high school turnarounds - especially involving operators who try to transplant their success into new soil in a different city. Rhee selected Friends of Bedford on the basis of its success at Bedford Academy, a highly regarded Brooklyn public school with an unstinting emphasis on college preparation. Anacostia Senior High School, which was placed under the control of Friendship Public Charter Schools by Rhee at the same time she hired Bedford, has also had leadership changes and discipline issues.


Bedford Chief Executive George Leonard, who had been acting principal since the beginning of the current school year, could not be reached to comment Wednesday. But in an interview Saturday, Leonard said the District's intervention was politically inspired, the product of disgruntled parents and former staff who had the ear of Mayor-elect Vincent C. Gray (D), a Dunbar alumnus, and D.C. Council member Harry Thomas Jr. (D), who represents Ward 5, home to the school.  -- Bill Turque, Washington Post Staff Writer, Wednesday, December 8, 2010; 9:27 PM  http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/08/AR2010120807351.html

While Bedford's chief executive blames politics for his groups removal, he would do well to remember that politics brought him in to Dunbar - NCLB forced Dunbar into restructuring.  Bedford High School was formed under the New York "empowerment zone" which granted broad control over budget and other matters.  A former Biology teacher, George Leonard took on schools in the deformist hot bed of New York City, where his programs blossomed under the idealogy of Joel Klein.  But, as someone who rose to success because of the political climate in New York, he also had a penchant for upsetting parents and a reputation for being non-collaborative.  He readily admits he's told parents “Just stay out of my way and let me create the scholar, because you’re usually the problem. I’ll see you at graduation.” 

“Our approach isn’t very palatable at times, I will say that,” said Bevon Thompson, chief financial officer (of Friends of Bedford). “We don’t wait for any debate or discussion about what should be done. We are at times confrontational because we consider ourselves advocates of children. We are not politicians.” http://www.dragonparadox.com/online-education/onlinedegree-onlineeducation-onlinecollege-onlineschool/school-d-c-s-dunbar-high-school-getting-new-administrators-more-security-to-quell-violence/

In the end, it looks more like this:  A Lead Partner's successful reform efforts are only as successful as the population they serve in the conditions they provide.  The ability to replicate success depends on the ability to replicate the conditions.  Educators will say Bedford failed to deliver in DC.  Bedford will claim the political culture in DC failed them.  But, I see something more:  I see a failure to apply standard scientific protocols to education reform. It starts in the planning phase if you hope to see it in the delivery.

In grade school, I did a science fair project on handwashing.  Every student in my class pressed their fingers on the augar in the petri dish and then we locked them in an overheated classroom for the weekend.  The following week, we identified the colonies growing in each dish.  Each dish grew something, but no two were the same.  It's a lesson in replication.