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Thursday, March 6, 2008

APS SUPERINTENDENT FINALISTS Candidate Winston Brooks Saw More Grads

By Andrea Schoellkopf
Journal Staff Writer
    Winston Brooks has spent 10 years at the helm of Wichita Public Schools, where many consider him a success for improving student achievement.
    "That's a long time for an urban superintendent to be in one district," Brooks, 55, said Wednesday as he drove from Kansas to Albuquerque, where he is one of six finalists for the superintendent position.
    "I would really like to see if I can move into another urban district and have the same kind of success we've been able to have in Wichita."
    Albuquerque isn't the only one calling. Brooks is interviewing this week for a $200,000 superintendency in Myrtle Beach, S.C.
    The Albuquerque job will pay around $260,000.
    "I think that skilled urban superintendents are hard to find," Wichita board president Connie Dietz said. "As such, those that are talented are constantly sought after by headhunters and other districts."
    Since 1998, Wichita's four-year graduation rate has risen from 64 percent to 77 percent. His resume lists an increase in student achievement each of his 10 years in office.
    "There's just absolutely no reason why we have the gaps across the country like we do," Brooks said. "And although I can find plenty of faults with No Child Left Behind, I do think it has forced all of us to look at gaps differently than we did 10 years ago. That's probably a good thing."
    Kevin Myles, president of the NAACP of Wichita, credits a narrowed achievement gap to a plan started by community groups with which Brooks was willing to meet. It was approved by the board in 2004.
    "He has always been willing to meet, even if we did not see eye-to-eye," Myles said.
    The plan includes cultural awareness training for school employees, a school-by-school report card, surveys of students and training for parents to help their children succeed.
    "It's something I would see the end product really being a community effort," Myles said. "He definitely does share some credit. He did play a role in his willingness."
    The Wichita board made history in January by ending a 40-year-old desegregation practice. Students will no longer be bused across town to achieve integration and can attend neighborhood schools.
    "It was time," Brooks said, noting recent Supreme Court rulings against other districts' desegregation plans.
    Also under Brooks, Wichita approved a $300 million bond issue in 2000— its first in nearly 30 years. A $350 million proposal awaits voters in May, and some are concerned that Brooks' departure could spell problems for its passage.
    Some of the changes that Brooks pushed were not well-received, said Paul Babich, president of the United Teachers of Wichita. While teacher pay increased, so did the workload: two more instructional days and two more professional development days to make for a 190-day academic calendar.
    Some 200 teachers were taken out of the classroom to become instructional coaches. Also, teachers must report 40 minutes early to school on Wednesdays for a "professional learning committee."
    "Some teachers are skeptical," Babich said.
    An April 2000 article in The Wichita Eagle article noted Brooks' reputation for having a temper.
    Brooks said it refers to an incident during a TV debate when he called a bond issue opponent a "racist and a bigot" for not opposing similar taxes in affluent districts. He added that he's not as temperamental as he used to be.
    Former board member Sarah Skelton said he is often at odds with conservative Republicans, including legislators, over school funding.
    "Sometimes he's diplomatic, and sometimes he's not," Skelton said, adding that "everyone has a temper" and at times, Brooks' passion "maybe rubs people the wrong way."
    Brooks took over as Wichita superintendent in 1998, after a series of out-of-district administrators.
    "Things were rocky here in the district for a number of years," Dietz said. "One of the things Winston brought to us, he brought stability after about 10 years of frequent changes in superintendent."
    And the union appreciated that, Babich said, saying Brooks has a "pretty good relationship with the union," marked by a 23 percent teacher salary increase over the last four years.
    When another district made Brooks an offer in 2002, business leaders put together a stipend package, adding $60,000 in pay and benefits to his salary annually if he would stay until 2007.

    The six finalists will be in Albuquerque for open meetings with the public on Friday— a day before the board is scheduled to select one of them as the new superintendent.
    Here's whom the candidates will meet with on Friday:
    6:30-8 a.m.— APS student body officers.
    11:30 a.m. - 1 p.m.— local business and government leaders.
    4-5:30 p.m.— APS employees.
    6-7:30 p.m.— APS parents and student family members.
   
CANDIDATE Q&A
    1. What is your priority for APS and what steps will you take to achieve it?
    2. Have you ever been arrested for, charged with, or convicted of drunken driving, any misdemeanor or any felony in New Mexico or any other state?
   
WINSTON C. BROOKS
    AGE: 55
    PLACE OF RESIDENCE: Wichita, Kan.
    EDUCATION: Education specialist degree, Wichita State University, 1980; master's educational administration, Wichita State University, 1978; bachelor's in elementary education, Wichita State University, 1974.
    JOB EXPERIENCE: Wichita Public Schools superintendent since 1998; personnel and human resources positions in Wichita Public Schools, 1991-1998; adjunt education professor, Newman University, Wichita, 1990-98; South Hillside and Griffith elementaries, 1987-1991; director of human resources, Burham Products, Wichita, three months in 1987; interim superintendent Catholic Diocese of Wichita, 1986-1987; assistant superintendent, Catholic Diocese of Wichita, 1982-1986; principal of St. Margaret Mary and St. Jude elementaries, 1977-1982; teacher, Lincoln Elementary Schools, 1974 to 1977.
    FAMILY: Married to wife, Ann, for 32 years. One daughter and three sons, the youngest of whom will graduate from high school this year, and a grandson.
    1. Declined to respond on the advice of APS search firm Ray and Associates. "I want to be able to talk to the board about those kinds of things."
    2. Absolutely not.
   
   
Wichita Public Schools
   
    SIZE: More than 6,000 employees; 48,705 students; $516 million budget
    STUDENT DEMOGRAPHICS: 41 percent Anglo, 22 percent Hispanic, 21 percent African American, 8 percent multi-racial, 5 percent Asian, 3 percent Native American
    POVERTY: 66 percent of students on free or reduced lunch
    AYP: 47 out of 94 reporting
    GRADUATION RATE: 76.9 percent