Tuesday afternoon and evening was another one of those special times I frequently experience in my work as a member of the City Council. Seeing all the good that’s happening in our city is encouraging and
hearing innovative ideas
is exciting. I visited Mercer Middle
School and later attended a lecture at the University of Washington. It
was thrilling because both experiences clearly showed how our community can achieve
its long-term potential.
Mercer Middle School sits next to the Veterans Hospital on Beacon Hill. Its
student population is overwhelmingly children of color, many from families
living in poverty. It used to have a pretty negative reputation, but that’s
not true anymore. The school is bustling with eager kids and a focused,
highly motivated faculty. Principal Andhra Lutz expects high performance
from her students, teachers, and, importantly, from parents. The building
and grounds are clean and orderly. Students are learning, and test scores
prove it. Math skills are up to the district-wide average. Reading
and science scores have soared above the district average. Discipline problems
have dropped sharply, due primarily to an innovative adult-student relationship
scheme that puts neighborhood retirees, former coaches, and other adult
volunteers on the blacktop playground during lunch breaks. A new "Blacktop Pride" code of conduct is widely promoted across the campus. As a result of high
expectations and standards, student behavior has improved. Instead of suspensions,
the school now tries to keep kids with behavior problems in class, monitors
them and offers old-fashioned nurturing, guidance, and what we might just call
"hand-holding." In the month of September, Mercer had no
suspensions or expulsions. None. Zero. That fact alone is
cause for celebration. Couple it with the surge in academic performance,
the spirit of expectation and hope in the hallways and classrooms, and Mercer
Middle School is a shining star on Beacon Hill.
We spent some time in an after-school math tutoring classroom. There
were about 15 sixth, seventh, and eighth graders in the room, each wearing
headphones, glued to their computer screens. A software tutorial was
guiding the students through a series of short skill-building exercises.
Two teachers hovered nearby, ready to answer questions, or pass out exercise
completion slips. I looked over the shoulder of one young boy as he
completed his exercise; I had to admit to myself that I can’t do fractions in
my head anymore. Another student used a hand-held calculator. I
asked her if she was allowed to use the calculator all the time.
"No," she replied. "Only to check my work after I'm
done." I glanced at her journal where she recorded the completion of
each exercise. She clearly didn't need the calculator. "You're
doing great," I told her. She beamed.
My visit to the school was a field trip, really. The city's Families
and Education Levy Oversight Committee was meeting at Mercer to learn how
Levy funds had helped the school turn around. It was inspiring!
After Mercer, I drove to the UW to hear a lecture by Bruce Katz,
a highly regarded scholar at the Brookings Institution. What Katz talked about ties
directly to what I witnessed at Mercer Middle School. Katz argues that
metropolitan areas are the engines of America's economy and will be the drivers
of our economic, cultural, and social future. "Metropolitan areas,
here and abroad, will be the vanguard of national renewal because they
overwhelmingly concentrate the assets that matter today, assets like
innovation, human capital, infrastructure, and quality places."
(I've posted on Katz and his theories before here and here.)
Human capital and quality places are what I found at Mercer Middle
School. Those kids staying after school to hone their math skills builds our
future human capital. The Mercer campus is a quality place. As Katz
told his UW audience, improving our schools and delivering on our promise of a quality
education, especially for children from poorer families, is central to
achieving our metro potential. I couldn't agree more.