Council of the Great City Schools

Meetings and conferences -the Council held nine in-person conferences and meetings in fy23-24. the two largest conferences were the annual fall conference and the spring legislative/policy conference. the annual fall conference was held on october 25-29, 2023, in san diego, ca and was attended by some 1,000 big-city public school superintendents, school board members, senior administrators, and deans of colleges of education.continued on page 46hosted by the san diego unified school district, the five-day conference was held in san diego under the banner "sailing into the future of urban education." In a town hall meeting moderated by sequoia carrillo, a i-12 education reporter for national public radio, eight students from urban Schools across the country discussed pressing issues such as gun violence and school safety. In her keynote address, former u.s. rep. liz cheney, urged education leaders to consider running for office as a way to contribute. She told conferees that americans cannot take for granted that democracy will always function. Also addressing the conference was jemele hill, a graduate of the detroit public Schools community district, who told urban educators that in her 2022 book "uphill: a memoir," she made it a point to thank several of her teachers, particularly her journalism teacher. the emmy award-winning journalist underscored the importance of educators amidst challenges in education, thanking them for their dedication to public Schools and the invaluable impact they have on students' lives. Council chair guadalupe guerrero interviewed actor and comedian john leguizamo, who shared how a high school teacher's advice changed his life, guiding him toward a career in acting. He emphasized the crucial role teachers play as mentors, especially for students who come from impoverished backgrounds. He also drew attention to the lack of latino representation in curriculum and textbooks, advocating for greater diversity in storytelling as well as for increased latino representation in the film and television industry.in addition, urban school superintendents, administrators, board members, and deans of colleges of education assembled in Washington, d.c. for the Council's annual legislative/policy conference on march 16-19, 2024 to discuss the education priorities of the new congress. Conferees heard from u.s. education secretary miguel cardona who underscored the biden administration's commitment to tackling community violence affecting Schools and said educators shouldn't have to sacrifice staff to address safety needs. He also highlighted effortsto increase the number of fafsa applications, which will enable more students to access federal financial aid.neera tanden, director of the white house domestic policy Council, discussed the white house's focus on helping states and school districts ensure students attend school regularly. Also addressing the conference was political analyst amy walter, who discussed the upcoming 2024 presidential election, a rematch between joe bidenand donald trump. She recalled the historical rarity of a sitting president running against a previous opponent and predicted another close race.other job-alike meetings were held by the organization during fy23-24. These sessions included meetings of the organization's: public relations executives; curriculum, research and instructional leaders; chief financial officers; chief human resource officers; chief operating officers and directors of facilities, child nutrition, safety & security, and transportation; bilingual, immigrant/refugee education directors; tuda task force advisory committee; and chief information officers.

General membership services this is the combined organizational services of the Council of the Great City Schools, including legislation, communications, research, academic achievement, task forces, and management services. In each of these areas, the Council conducted over 1,000 regular zoom calls to connect member district staff to peers and support during the year.continued on page 49legislation--the Council helps shape legislation to strengthen the quality of schooling for the nation's urban children by providing information to federal agencies and to the membership on federal activity. In 2023-24, the Council-- - successfully worked to preserve level funding for federal education programs in fiscal year 2024, despite strict spending caps instituted by the 2023 debt ceiling agreement and a house appropriations proposal that cut title i by 80% and eliminated funding for teacher effectiveness and english learner programs. - developed a question & answer document with a working group of cgcs general counsels to help high school college advisors and guidance counselors understand and apply the supreme court's ruling in students for fair admissions v. harvard when counseling students about the use of race in college applications.- hosted multiple discussions and presentations from member district superintendents, chief financial officers, federal program directors, and other leaders to highlight the expiration of federal covid relief funding, address the requirements for ensuring the on-time obligation of funds, minimize the fiscal cliff after funds had been expended, and initiate discussions with states about requesting an extension of the liquidation period. - convened the cgcs general counsels for a pre-meeting before the 2023 annual fall conference in san diego, ca, addressing topics such as office for civil rights investigations in special education, lawsuits against state agencies, digital accessibility and ada compliance, social media litigation, and u.s. justice department resolutions regarding english language learners. - advocated for and supported the adoption of the first cybersecurity pilot program for k-12 Schools from the federal communications commission (fcc) and filed multiple sets of comments with the agency to help school districts address the growing cybersecurity needs in k-12 Schools.- provided multiple briefings on the long-awaited regulations for title ix and created a detailed side-by-side comparison of the previous and updated title ix regulations for use by urban school district general counsels and title ix coordinators.- launched a major survey on urban school districts' investments from the american rescue plan's elementary and secondary school emergency relief (arp esser) pandemic assistance grant program to highlight how Council members' effectively used funds to re-open Schools, support student and staff health and safety issues that emerged during the pandemic, and boost student achievement. - submitted public comments to the federal trade commission (ftc) on their proposed rule to implement the children's online privacy protection act (coppa), working with a group of school district general counsels and information technology administrators to strengthen student privacy protections.- actively opposed federal parents bill of rights legislation in the u.s house of representatives, which included overly prescriptive and unnecessary requirements regarding curriculum, library materials, and budget information, as well as harmful provisions that would hinder a district's ability to deploy educational technology and perform needed health and wellness screenings.- hosted a series of legal webinars with the law firm husch blackwell on issues affecting urban school districts, including the use of race in college admissions, religious accommodations for students and employees, challenges to diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, state vs. local control, and updated title ix regulations.- provided dozens of briefings to cgcs school boards, superintendents, chief financial officers, government relations directors, general counsels, and other senior district officials on the status of federal covid-19 funding, including elementary and secondary school emergency relief (esser) funds, congressional proposals affecting curriculum, notification, and data privacy requirements, and updates to federal agency guidance, regulations and waivers.- hosted the 2024 annual legislative/policy conference in Washington, d.c., with remarks from u.s. secretary of education miguel cardona and white house domestic policy advisor neera tanden, as well as legislative briefings and q&a sessions with staff from congress and the u.s. department of education. - held monthly meetings with school district general counsels to provide updates on pending federal and state education litigation, discuss common issues of concern, and disseminate new federal regulations and guidance.- fielded scores of legislative, legal, and regulatory questions to resolve various district problems and intercede with various federal agencies.communicationsthe Council works to give the public and the press a balanced and accurate view of the challenges, developments, and success of urban public Schools. In 2023-24 the Council - issued more than a dozen press releases on Council activities, as well as statements on critical current events impacting the lives of urban schoolchildren.- fielded scores of inquiries from national and regional media outlets such as the new york times, Washington post, education week, chalkbeat, boston globe and the philadelphia inquirer.- released a crisis communications guidebook to help communication directors in urban school districts proactively plan for, and be ready to manage communications during a crisis, such as a school shooting.- organized two sessions at the sxsw edu conference in austin on training the next generation of urban school leaders and navigating politics in urban school boards. - for the 67th annual fall conference, secured the three keynote speakersformer congresswoman liz cheney, journalist jemele hill, and actor john leguizamoand coordinated a national town hall meeting feature an all-student panel, moderated by sequoia carrillo, a k-12 education reporter for national public radio.- emailed eight issues of the Council's award-winning digital newsletter, the urban educator.- coordinated the cgcs-bernard harris math and science scholarships program and the dr. michael casserly legacy scholarship for educational courage and justice. - hosted the 23rd annual public relations executives meeting in st. louis. - managed the organization's blue ribbon corporate advisory group.- coordinated the green-garner award ceremony, honoring the nation's top urban educator.- worked with scholastic to present the winner of the richard m. robinson literacy champion award, recognizing a Council member school district for progress in advancing reading achievement.- actively participated in meetings with the coalition to advance future student success, an effort to ensure arp funds are spent effectively and efficiently. Researchtimely data collection and analysis allow the Council to prepare comprehensive reports, predict trends, and assess various reforms and practices on student performance. In 2023-24, the Council- coordinated and led monthly research, evaluation, and assessment meetings with member districts to discuss district needs and plans for responding to the covid-19 pandemic, recovery progress, and best practices in leading research in urban school districts. - coordinated and led a series of chief performance and accountability officer meetings with member districts to discuss the specific needs of chiefs in this role along with their challenges and establishing a community of best practices for leading the strategic work of driving systemic data use in urban school districts. - convened and led regular meetings with member districts who use three formative assessments (nwea, curriculum associates, and renaissance) in research/assessment consortium. These consortia are designed to allow space for sharing of information, best practices and data among users of these assessments. - analyzed naep and cgcs academic kpi data to assess the progress of students across member school districts, and included the results in the annual academic key performance indicators report. These data are used to support district efforts to improve student achievement and social/emotional outcomes for students.

Categorical grants - the Council received one new categorical grant in fy23-24 from the gates foundation. This four-year grant called instructional resources adoption & procurement support is to support school district selection of high quality instructional resources (acct 26).continued on page 48the organization also operated: 1) the second year or the hewlett foundation grant (acct 27) for support of the development of mathematics online learning modules; 2) the second year of the wallace foundation (acct 61) to continue providing technical assistance to the school board of districts participating in the equity-centered pipeline initiative; 3) the final year of the gates foundation grant for support of large school districts in covid-19 recovery by helping build internal district capacity through strengthening three core processes planning, curriculum development/materials selection and procurement (acct45); 4) the third year of the Council chief state school officers (ccsso) to support the coalition to advance future student success by serving as principal partner to execute strategy and dissemination work that directly supports the success of the students and school districts (acct83); and, 5) the final year of the contract with the international society for technology in education (iste) to lead and coordinate district level interoperability and procurement listening tour and roundtable efforts and create the foundational components of a rubric/guidelines in subsequent works and anticipated uses (acct 66).ongoing projects continue for contracts with: 1) the university of California at irvine to participate in a longitudinal study of student achievement based on professional development on the teaching of writing skills (acct 39); and 2) the national assessment governing board (governing board) for a trial urban district assessment (tuda) advisory group (acct 33),

Other special projects- conducted in-person governance training sessions in albuquerque, atlanta, aurora, austin, baltimore, bridgeport, buffalo, charleston, charlotte-mecklenburg, cincinnati, cleveland, columbus, des moines, fresno, jackson, jefferson county ky, long beach, las vegas, Oklahoma City, philadelphia, pittsburgh, rochester, sacramento, san antonio, san diego, seattle, tulsa, and wichita.- conducted strategic support team reviews for the anchorage school district (hr), albuquerque public Schools (academic), aurora public Schools (academic), birmingham City Schools (finance) , boston public Schools (hr), cleveland metropolitan school district (it, safety & security), columbus City Schools (it), duval county public Schools (finance), fresno unified school district (special ed), Hawaii department of education (organizational), memphis/shelby county public Schools (organizational), school district of philadelphia (transportation), puerto rico department of education (special ed), sacramento unified school district (hr), san antonio independent school district (special ed), st. louis public Schools (transportation), and washoe county school district (special ed).- managed the data collection, analysis, and reporting of the Council's operational kpis, and released the annual managing for results report. - coordinated an effort to provide technical assistance to 20 Council member districts to help them strengthen their technology interoperability with efforts to expand the program.- secured a long-term agreement with kelly education as the sole sponsor for the distinguished service award for chief human resource officers (chro) to be presented annually at the chro conference in february. - forged relationships with consortium for school networking (cosn) and amazon web services (aws).- k12 ai readinessthe Council of Great City Schools (cgcs) and cosn - the consortium for school networking worked in partnership with amazon web services (aws) developed a k12 generative ai (gen ai) readiness checklist questionnaire. This questionnaire is designed to guide k12 school districts in understanding key factors to consider before implementing gen ai technologies. While not an exhaustive readiness assessment, the checklist serves as a preliminary tool for district leaders including superintendents, district leaders and technology experts to evaluate the safety, privacy, security, and ethical implications of using gen ai. the goal is to help districts prepare adequately, ensuring data privacy and security, and avoiding bias or algorithmic discrimination, while gaining a foundational understanding of the related tactical considerations.the k12 gen ai readiness checklist questionnaire is the first tool that cgcs, cosn, and aws are planning to introduce to school districts to help them prepare their organizations for adoption of this transformative technology. Our next phase, which has already been funded and begun, will build upon the foundational considerations outlined in this checklist. We plan to introduce a more comprehensive tool that will allow districts to self-evaluate their readiness for implementing gen ai technologies. This rubric will help districts identify their maturity level in terms of gen ai readiness and pinpoint specific areas that require further attention to ensure safe and secure adoption of this transformative technology.this tool is intended to serve as a starting point for the intelligently and thoughtfully implementing ai technologies that align with instructional and operational objectives. We encourage district leaders to adapt this resource to their unique needs.- in addition, developed gen ai maturity model that is being piloted with chicago public Schools, clark county school district, and fresno unified school district.- education sector government coordinating Council (gcc)at the start of 2023-2024 school year, the u.s. department of education (department) and federal agency partners announced a series of commitments to support k-12 cybersecurity improvements. One of these commitments is the department's plan to establish an education sector government coordinating Council (gcc), a federally recognized coordinating body of governmental entities in the education sector that will voluntarily commit to department-led coordination and facilitation of information sharing, technical assistance, and guidance to combat k-12 cybersecurity incidents. - interoperability cohort programthe interoperability coalition program was funded with a grant from the gates, czi, and michael and susan dell foundations. Iste and ccsso partnered with cgcs in this program. the program was funded for three years and concluded on october 31, 2023. the program focus was to assess the maturity levels in systems and interoperability and data privacy and support the district in their efforts to improve their data governance and management, edtech procurement policies and practices, governance and project management, and data privacy.- cgcs communities launch. These platforms are uniquely tailored for each community to engage in ongoing discussions and collaboration. Communities launched for cio, coo, child nutrition, chro, cfo, procurement, risk management, internal audit, safety & security, facilities, and transportation (pupil transportation)- safety & security taskforcein response to the growing concerns surrounding safety and security within large urban k-12 school districts, there is an urgent need to establish comprehensive guidelines and best practices. These guidelines will serve as a roadmap for enhancing safety measures and implementing effective security protocols to ensure the well-being of students, staff, and faculty across urban school settings. This project aims to bring together a team of safety and security experts to develop robust guidelines tailored specifically to the challenges faced by large urban school districts.- enterprise resource planning (erp) taskforceerp systems play a critical role in the efficient management of operations within large urban k-12 school districts. However, there is a recurring challenge of erp implementation failures across member districts, leading to inefficiencies, disruptions, and financial losses. To address this problem of practice, there is a need to establish comprehensive guidelines and best practices for successful erp implementations tailored specifically to the unique context of large urban school districts. This project aims to convene a task force comprising cfos, chros, cios, coos, chief academic officers, and superintendents from member districts and industry partners to collaboratively develop recommendations and solutions to improve erp implementation outcomes.

Strategic support team