Lessons in Not So Great Customer Service

For those of you following my travels, we recently moved from St. Louis to Palo Alto, where I will be assuming the headship of the South Peninsula Hebrew Day School.  The transition has kept me busy...and out of the blogging zone.  Tonight, I'm wading back in.  As part of my move, we had to relocated phone and internet providers.  Along the way I received a very illustrative lesson in the do's and don'ts of providing good (or bad) customer service from the service rep who fielded my cable modem application.  Let's just say that I learned a lot about how not to treat customers.  

For a peek at the conversation...which took place via Comcast's online chat window... follow this link for an actual transcript.  I'm going to ask my teachers and administrative faculty to read this, with promises that we'll do exactly the opposite at my new school.

Allen Selis

The Art of Play

Those who have read this blog over the last year will probably wonder where the following post is coming from.  Really, it's not out of the blue.  As I sit with my board talking about the various elements of our school program, we have begun to think seriously about the physical spaces of our school as an attribute that either enhances or takes luster away from the quality of our program.

Luckily, a very generous friend of my school offered me the opportunity to ask:  Just how does the physical landscape of a school create excellence?

For some illustrative first thoughts on the matter, follow this link.

Purim Torah on Day School Affordability?

(For our non-Jewish readers out there:  The Hebrew month of Adar is a time of celebration in Jewish life, but also a time of good natured joking and sometimes practical jokes.  Think April Fools Day, OK?  Read on, and you'll get it.)

"Abba, you've got to take a look at this!  The Hebrew Academy is cutting tuition to $1,000 per student and giving their staff a 75% raise."  My first thought in response to my son was "Well, about time.  They've needed a raise.  Um...how much did you say tuition was going to be?"  I finally looked up the posting on the Young Israel web-site and found the following:

The Hebrew Academy and Yeshiva High School announced today that they have developed a new joint financial plan that will allow them to reduce tuition to less than $1000 per student while increasing faculty salaries by at least 75%. Services will not need to be cut, and the debt should be retired within three months. "In retrospect, it was obvious that we should have been doing this all along," said Epstein President Mark Drazen. "This way, parents will not need to sacrifice any more and we will be on a solid financial footing." 

 The posting closed with a link that offered "click here for more information."  So I did, and downloaded the following text which flashed impishly across my screen:  "You've got to be kidding."  I smiled.  They got me.  Yes, it's Adar folks.

Our local synagogue's Purim joke should remind us as educational leaders that the easy solutions around school affordability remain just that...easy answers that don't merit more than passing consideration.  Earlier this winter I met with a board  president and her treasurer to discuss challenges which their school faced.  The most difficult moment in the conversation came when she shared that "We are heartbroken at the idea that Jewish families won't get a day school education.  We're offering even more financial aid than we had budgeted, and want your advice."  I took a deep breath, looked her in the eye and said, "If you bankrupt your school, I promise you that Jewish families won't get a day school education."


In the coming month (after Purim), I'll be publishing another white paper on day school affordability.  I hope to offer a global view that continues to push for outside of the box solutions while remaining focused on responsible fiscal management.  Stay posted.  In the meantime, before they toggle  back to the non-Purim version, have a look a the web page of the Young Israel of St. Louis.  And don't forget to smile.  It is, after all, still Adar.

Latest in the Public Debate Over Charter Schools

The Winter edition of the Conservative / Masorti movement’s publication, Kolot, landed on my desk with a thud.  It features three articles on the Hebrew charter school movement.  Elana Weinberg, who teaches in the Hebrew Language Academy of Brooklyn, marvels at the “tremendous diversity” in her school, where just under half of the enrolled students are not Jewish.  Meanwhile, Rabbi Paul Plotkin of Margate, Florida urges leaders to embrace this opportunity raise a “Jewishly literate generation.”  (He’s also convinced that aging schuls can make a killing by renting out unused Hebrew school space to charter schools.)  Elaine Cohen weighed in last, expressing concern that these schools will not provide the “deep Jewish experiences” of a day school environment. 

While I encourage you to read for yourself and comment on this page, I have three immediate responses.

First, the power of day schools is their ability to create immersive environments where Jewish children will have formative experiences in a space that affirms their identity and values.  To imagine that Hebrew alone will sustain Jewish continuity is far off-target. 

Second, if we are willing to countenance the argument that public funds should be devoted to building Hebrew language academies, then it should be a foregone conclusion that public funds must be available to fully underwrite the cost of general studies instruction in our day schools.   

Finally, I take issue with Rabbi Plotkin’s notion that charter schools represent a positive opportunity for non-Orthodox congregations.  This community desperately needs a lay leadership that is textually grounded and immersed in serious Jewish learning.  The next generation of liberal Jewish leaders will not get their start in the secular Hebrew language academies of Brooklyn and Margate.  They will only emerge when community leaders collectively and consistently stand up for day schools as the best and most effective vehicle for developing a strong and coherent Jewish identity.

Please use the comment link, below, and add your voice to the discussion.

The Race Towards Excellence Is a Marathon, Not a Sprint

I have yet to discover a school that does not invoke the language of “excellence” in its viewbook, its annual report or its web site.  The claims quickly strain credulity.  What does excellence really mean?  How does one distinguish between real excellence and mere gimmicks?  Within the last two decades, the debate around educational improvement has focused on technology, specific teaching methods and small class size as potential lynchpins in the quest for educational quality.  While each approach has its merits, none of them independently has the capacity to create the kind of “excellent” schools that our children will need to make their way in the 21st Century.

Just what would a school for the current era look like?  And how might we build it?

Creating excellence is not simple.  Educational leaders who truly seek it face a “marathon,” a lengthy and detailed process of school improvement, and not the quick fix of a “sprint.” Those who have the courage to run that marathon should work to build schools that feature exemplary governance, thoughtful educational design and a focus on authentic learning outcomes, all within the frame of a school that takes ownership of a clear and compelling moral purpose.   (continued...)  

To read the rest of the post, follow this link.

PEJE Session on Affordability

For those of you who attended my session with David Sharken and Jack Wertheimer on Day School Affordability at the PEJE Assembly and wanted access to the PowerPoint presentation, this link will bring up a copy in PDF format.

For best readability, you will need to download the file onto your computer and then open it with Acrobat. (Use the middle tab on the upper-left hand side of the page where it reads "Download 816KB.")
Your comments and feedback will be much appreciated.

Blogging the PEJE Assembly

Have a look at the Partnership for Excellence in Jewish Education web site over the next week. I'm joining ten other lay and professional leaders who will be blogging the 2010 PEJE Assembly for Advancing the Day School Field. A few important posts are already up on the PEJE Blog-- including Yossi Prager's posting regarding government funding for day schools.
My post on vision and technical skills of leadership just went up today. Stay tuned over the next week for input from some very thoughtful colleagues.