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The best damn advertisement
On Sunday, The Washington Post highlighted a great public school superintendent, someone I want everyone to know. I can’t take credit for anything Jack Dale of Fairfax County, VA has done, but I’m sure glad he’s a Harwood Public Innovators Lab Alum. Here’s what I mean.
Fairfax County is one of the biggest school districts in all of America – with 164,000 students, 187 schools, and a $2.1 billion annual budget, according to The Post. It’s a humdinger of a district: it’s huge, very diverse, with lots of vocal parents and competing interest groups. No move by the superintendent goes unnoticed.
So, consider those daunting numbers and politics for just a moment. Then consider the picture The Post ran with the article about Jack. If a picture is worth a thousand words, then all you need to see is this one.
Upon first glancing at the picture, which is of people in a classroom, I couldn’t really tell who the article was about. First my eye wandered to a gentleman sitting on a table at the back of the classroom. Then I saw Jack. Was that him? Get this: he was sitting among the students, in the middle of the classroom. But what was he doing? He was listening.
Jack’s predecessor was known for his blustery and highly politicized ways. He was a larger than life figure.
When you meet Jack, you know right away, in a kind of uncanny way, that he is a man who is unusually centered and focused. “I’m trying to make substantive change in the way we do business,” the Post quoted Jack as saying. “What I’m trying to create is the reason all of us went into education: a place to have kids explore their minds and the unknown and the future.”
Oftentimes with public leaders we’re not sure what they mean when they’re quoted. But Jack gives us an important window into his focus and centeredness in this single quote.
• Jack is a public innovator who seeks
systems change – “change in
the way we do business” – and not just
change at the edges. Read the
article and you will hear about some of those
changes that target
year-round teaching and closing the
achievement gap.
• Jack taps into people’s aspirations, not
their demands. That’s why he
continually focuses on “the reason all of us
went into education.”
Notice, he said, “all of us” not just
himself. When you read the
article, you will see that Jack includes
teachers, administrators,
parents, the community and others. He believes
that people share
aspirations, and that it is possible to
discover and build off of that
common ground.
• Jack wants to create a “place” for
kids, not just a new curriculum
that sits in a binder or is pushed by
teachers. He believes deeply that
the role of schools and communities is to
create safe and vibrant
environments in which kids can learn and
grow.
• Jack talks about kids exploring their
“own minds” and the “unknown.”
If you know Jack, then it wouldn’t surprise
you that he used these
words and in public! While he knows that kids
must learn certain
things, he also knows that learning and
growing is about exploring your
own thoughts and moving into the unknown.
There is nothing to be afraid
of.
Some people in The Post article criticize Jack because he’s too laid back or he doesn’t move through the county imposing his views on everyone. I suppose there might come a time when he will kick-in other elements of his leadership style and step forward in ways people have yet to see.
But the essence of who he is will remain true, as it has throughout his career. He is about kids. He is about bringing people together. He is about tapping into people’s aspirations. He is about vigilantly aligning his programs with funding and capacity. He is about finding the best in people.
And he is doing all this as the leader of one of the biggest school districts in the US. My hat is off to Jack. Now, my next goal is to have him come back to help teach the Lab.
“The thing I do well is getting people to
work together,” Jack said to the Post.
“We have high aspirations for all kids, and
I mean all.”