A Network of Relationships

Abstract

WHEN THE School-to-Work Opportunities Act (STWOA) was just a rumbling in the distance, business leadership in Springfield, Massachusetts, got word of an intriguing idea with the odd-sounding acronym of CS2. The executive director of Hampden County's Regional Employment Board was visibly excited about the potential of an initiative that promised to bring together communities and schools (CS) in pursuit of career success (CS squared). As superintendent of Springfield's 25,000-student school district, I looked at the CS2 initiative as an opportunity to recruit and hire individuals who would not just think outside the box but would also be fully empowered to act outside the box. Dubbed entrepreneurs for the creative independence they would have to exert to be effective, these individuals were to respond to the direction of the school system as well as to the needs of the business community and community-based organizations. In 1994, I was halfway through what would develop into an 11-year tenure as superintendent, and I was looking for allies and foot soldiers in my drive to transform what had been a sluggish school system into an actively reform-minded district. The CS2 model brought to mind Cornel West's notion of multi-sectorism. West emphasizes the importance of responding with sensitivity not just to cultural cues and backgrounds but also to the various -- academic, government, community, business, religious -- that shape our language, assumptions, and operating principles. The norms of behavior shaped by our home sectors can either invigorate or interfere with effective liaisons and collaboration. The job description for the CS2 professionals made them neither fish nor fowl; they would be creatures not of the school system, nor of the business sector, nor of any particular community-based agency. Instead, they would be charged with speaking the language of these various to facilitate collaboration in support of our students' future success. And the three people we hired in Springfield quickly came to see themselves as a team as they developed activities and environments that would use their divergent learning styles, constituencies, and communication and organizational styles to their best effect and for the greatest benefit. At the same time, the state of Massachusetts competed successfully to become one of the first states in the nation to implement the STWOA. Massachusetts' plan for implementation was built around a vision of empowered multi-sector partnerships linked across the Commonwealth. The Springfield community's early work to bring the CS2 initiative into our city positioned us well to respond to the state's invitation to implement STW locally. With the planning to bring CS2 to Springfield behind us and an effective staff before us, the CS2 advisory body served as an already-organized springboard from which to launch an effective local partnership that could shape school-to-work practices and policies. …