Optimism is a must when you’re working in education. Chicago Public Schools (CPS) is currently—as are many school districts—facing a HUGE budget shortfall. CPS is also welcoming a new CEO(Jean-Claude Brizard) and beginning to make changes to the structure of an organization serving over 400,000 kids.—it’s a wild and interesting time to be working on education in Chicago.
Conversations with other Fellows—especially those at CPS—have highlighted the immense and far reaching difficulties that saturate education in Chicago. The one thing I haven’t heard in any of these conversations is pessimism. Each person has acknowledged the challenges of their project and those facing their team. But each person—without exception—has approached their project with enthusiasm, confidence, and a belief that our projects will make a positive impact on CPS and kids throughout Chicago classrooms.
This is what I signed up for. I am surrounded by a diverse group of bright, talented, and driven Pioneers who are willing to—as Jim Collins in Good to Great states—confront[ing] the brutal facts that prevent each child from receiving the best education and work[ing] relentlessly to remove at least one hurdle.
And as you’ll see in my next post—they’re also really fun…
