August 11, 2011
Playing Nice in the Sandbox
By Kathleen Nugent, DFER New Jersey State Director
Recently, I was in a meeting with a colleague from the public sector and the subject of education advocacy organizations came up --- in reference to those groups working nationwide as well as those already in or slated to come to New Jersey. Before the discussion even started, my colleague stopped and rolling his eyes said, "Oh that's right...I've heard you advocacy people don't play nice in the sandbox together." This surprised me, as I hadn't realized education advocates had a reputation of not working well together. My colleague, however, assured me that this was common knowledge.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
For advocates, if we can't reign ourselves in, play nice, and be the best support to our legislators, it will be to the detriment of all we fight for.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Why it's hard to play nice: If you think about it, the ugly truth is there seem to be many reasons education advocates might not get along --- all of which tend to involve resources. There is a limited donor pool interested in advocacy, a limited number of political leaders willing to take on the issues, a limited number of experts who can speak with authority to those issues, and a limited attention span of the public and media to compete for. Even more, it's difficult to prove worth and earn credibility when so many factors play into the outcome of education policy and legislation.
Why it's a no-brainer to play nice: What's the phrase, "united we stand, divided we fall?" When working to change an institution and massive bureaucracy, clearly it takes a significant effort with strong momentum to succeed. It also takes a lot of smart people who bring a collection of voices with differing points of view working together. The end result is better policy and a base of support to see it through implementation.
Additional opinions at the table make for higher quality policies. For example, the American Federation of Teacher's was a key partner in Colorado's drafting of the "Great Teachers and Leaders Bill" (SB 191), which they helped ensure would set a national standard for other states to follow. At DFER, we're encouraged to have open dialogues with partners, honest conversations about the opportunities and challenges, and to share all relevant information. When united by common goals, playing the partner role verses the competitor role leads to the greatest outcomes. Perhaps this is why I was so surprised by my colleague's comment.
In New Jersey, the success of education reform will not be to the credit of one group, one administration, or one bill...no matter how strong. Success will only be realized when a significant collection of people, groups, and leaders come together and play nice while working towards the same goal. It starts - very importantly - with individual legislators; those legislators who are willing to vote yes or no, those who take on ownership as a bill sponsor and the responsibility for the drafting process, and the legislative leadership willing to launch critical and oftentimes difficult dialogues. The crux of education reform policy at the state level comes down to the collective and bold efforts of legislators at a very personal and individual level. For advocates, if we can't reign ourselves in, play nice, and be the best support to our legislators, it will be to the detriment of all we fight for.
What's that other phrase --- "divide and rule." If that has been the status quo lately (pun intended), it would seem silly for education advocates to do anything except unite.
Prior to joining DFER in February 2010, Kathleen Nugent supported the growth of TEAM Charter Schools, the region of KIPP schools in Newark, New Jersey, for almost two years in their development department. Before TEAM, Kathleen worked at The MCJ Amelior Foundation for five years. Read more about Kathleen here.