Feature

Leadership in Chicago: Timothy Knowles

As Chicago Public Schools underwent leadership changes last month, Timothy Knowles, the Lewis-Sebring Director of the University of Chicago's Urban Education Institute (UEI), spoke to students about his own career, the legacy of former school CEO Arne Duncan, and the future of Chicago schools.

When Knowles arrived in Chicago in 2002, he said, "Chicago felt like the city that time forgot." In terms of basic schooling, it lagged significantly behind coastal cities. It was, and remains, resourced way below other American cities-with per pupil funding almost entirely dependent on local property taxes. Complicating matters, factors like an overly decentralized system; high student mobility; multiple, fragmented curricula; and a lack of attention to the quality of teaching, learning and leadership made Chicago one of the most difficult cities in which to educate children in America.

But these challenges were part of what attracted Knowles to leave Boston, where he was a deputy superintendent of the public school system. He said urban education is only set up for "incremental improvement" and he was interested in how low-income children can learn at a deeper level, on a bigger scale. "Fundamentally, that's our biggest challenge," he explained. "We don't have well articulated models of how to do this. There was an opportunity here, and Arne Duncan was instrumental to that opportunity."

Put another way, the United States also has some of the best higher educational institutions operating next to underperforming primary and secondary schools. When he arrived at UEI, Knowles hoped to bring the two together. "It seemed as though there was space in Chicago to innovate."

UEI's mission is to improve public school for children in urban areas. Among its work, UEI has established and runs charter schools on the city's South Side, provides leadership development programs for teachers and principals, and conducts research on a wide range of education issues. Since Knowles started, the organization has created 20 new schools, four of which are run by the University.

Knowles spoke as part of the 2009 Leadership in Chicago Program, directed by Robert Michael, the Eliakim Hastings Moore Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus at the Harris School. Structured as a forum on urban and community affairs, the program focuses on Chicago's institutions, area initiatives, and individual leaders who join the class as guest speakers to discuss their careers. Identified as future urban leaders, the students gain insights in addressing challenges in the fields of urban policy and community development.

Knowles suggested that, based on college completion rates, seven years ago the public school system in Chicago was beyond broken. But he praised Arne Duncan, the previous CEO of Chicago Public Schools and new U.S. Secretary of Education, citing his openness to taking a hard look at evidence and incorporating it into school improvement plans; efforts to establishing new programs to nurture teachers and school leaders; and focus on making room for innovation. "Arne's been instrumental in pushing back boundaries of what schooling should be and getting new partners in the mix," said Knowles. As an example, he pointed to Renaissance 2010, which sought to create 100 new schools in five years. With one year left in the program, this goal is nearly complete: 99 new schools have opened.

Looking ahead, he said, to help disadvantaged children in Illinois more resources must be a priority. More broadly, the reauthorization of No Child Left Behind represents a great challenge and an important opportunity for the United States to take public schools to a different level. With the economic stimulus package expected to dump nearly $150 billion into all levels of education, Knowles questioned how much future funding the federal government will be able to provide urban districts. And just as important as financial support, he added, new models of schooling need to be developed so that existing resources go further and schools become more competitive.