On Monday night DFER Intern Ben Wrobel attended the Council of Urban Professionals’ (CUP) Distinguished Leadership Series, during which speakers Mayor Byron Brown of Buffalo, NY, Mayor Douglas H. Palmer of Trenton, NJ and former Washington, D.C. Mayor Sharon Pratt discussed the challenges facing today’s American cities. Below he offers his thoughts on the evening:
Monday night’s event provided me with some interesting insights into cities’ problems and their potential solutions. A main theme of the discussion was the need to marry private innovation to public government, despite their seemingly disparate agendas. The speakers reached the conclusion that the private sector can and should play a large role in the redevelopment of any city, by contributing their unique expertise and offering support in areas where their elected counterparts tend to fail.
It seems that this philosophy applies particularly well to education reform. Charter schools are an example of the marriage between private interests and local governments – in areas where the existing school systems have proven ineffective due to administrative incompetence or simply bureaucratic clutter, charter schools are a privately run but publicly financed alternative. A well-intentioned businessman can contribute to the community by donating or volunteering time or services to a school.
Mayor Palmer stressed the need to fix America’s schools and mentioned charter schools as a possible solution. He also insisted that teachers and staffs must be held accountable for their actions. Mayor Pratt stressed the need for funding of these schools – she maintained that effective politics utilize a bottom-up approach, and called for more earmarks for cities.
Hopefully this discourse between the nation’s private and public leaders will continue on with constructive results.