An Open Letter to RCSD Board President: Moving Beyond the Rhetoric

Greetings Commissioner Simmons,

This letter was inspired by your recent Facebook post. It is my sincere hope that the letter will be received in the spirit it is being written—I want to provide a very important historical backdrop, which you may not be familiar with, and also a degree of constructive criticism.

Howard Eagle

The Facebook post highlighted above is apparently concerning a recent conversation that you had with Dr. Jaime Aquino. Hopefully, you understand that the November 14, 2018 Aquino Report, which you mentioned via your post, represents one of the most important endeavors related to potential change and improvement that has happened in the Rochester City School District over the past seven years. Regarding what you presumably learned from Dr. Aquino, let's engage in a meaningful dialogue. The Report, and specifically, the “84 recommendations” that are contained within it—probably NONE of which have been fully implemented with fidelity—are as important today (if not more so) as they were in 2018.

Before continuing, I want to acknowledge that some of us in the local grassroots-educational-activists-community were very excited in January 2025 when you wrestled (politically speaking) the leadership of the Rochester Board of Education away from individuals whom we felt were doing a terrible job. We have continued to closely observe dynamics and conditions among Board Commissioners over the past 9+ months (under your leadership), and regretfully, in spite of good intentions, clearly, what Dr. Aquino wrote about the Board in 2018, still stands. “The Board lacks understanding of its role as a governing body, and [demonstrates] inability to act as a unified body.” Of course, this is evidenced by your ongoing tutoring, in which the 184-year-old Rochester Board of Education is being “coached” by Council of the Great City Schools — relative to effective governance.

You may or may not recall that after the Aquino Report was issued, New York State Commissioner of Education at the time (Mary Ellen Elia), and the current Commissioner of Education (Betty Rosa)—the latter of whom was the New York State Board of Regents Chancellor at the time, along with locally-based New York State Regents Wade Norwood, and at the time, Vice Chancellor T. Andrew Brown—SWORE that “change is coming to the city school district, one way or another.” Even the Mayor at the time, Lovely Warren, got involved in declarations about so-called change. She and former Regent, T. Andrew Brown attempted to advance a proposal for a temporary State take-over of the RCSD. Warren got into a public squabble with State Assemblyman Harry Bronson, who didn’t want to support the proposal, and who, more than likely, helped to kill it, along with the local education 'czar' himself, Rochester Teachers Association president, Adam Urbanski.

As it relates to prospects for improvement, on his way out of the RCSD, Dr. Aquino made it crystal clear (via his final Quarterly Report ) that there were/are fundamental, problematic factors and obstacles, including, but not limited to the following: Rochester is “a community with low expectations for students rooted in a deep history of institutional racism; the district pays little attention to teaching and learning and hasn’t come up with a coherent way to improve learning; parents often complain at board meetings about their kids not being treated with dignity and respect in the district; the Board lacks understanding of its role as a governing body, and [has] inability to act as a unified body; the culture of fear and intimidation is as strong as ever”. NONE OF WHICH HAS CHANGED FOR THE BETTER.

Some of us felt a ray of hope and encouragement over 6 months ago when it was announced that you were “launching Community Conversations to Tackle the Education Crisis ,” and that the purpose of the “conversations [was] to directly engage the community in solutions for the city’s struggling schools;” and that there would be a “focused series of conversations, open to all residents who want to be part of a dialogue about the future of education in the Rochester City School District;” and that the meeting in April was “the first of several conversations [you] planned to have throughout the remainder of the year;” and that “this [was] not a one-off event but the beginning of a movement to drive meaningful reform, with community voices playing a central role” because you “cannot do this alone [but] together, we can make real changes in the lives of our students.”  We are approaching the end of the year, and over the past 6 months, have not heard anything else about the “series.” Even though it may not matter to you, some in our community will probably begin to lose confidence relative to the possibility of effective leadership.

What does all of this have to do with the Aquino Report? Well, if you really do intend to involve/engage the broader community, people will necessarily need to be engaged in concrete, meaningful work. Thus, I can’t possibly think of a better place to start than reviewing the “84 recommendations” contained in Dr. Aquino’s Report, and figuring out if there can be collaboration relative to actually implementing some of the recommendations. A tiny sampling of a few that might be considered include the following:

• Clearly define what “culturally responsive teaching” looks like and how it will be monitored;

• Develop a comprehensive professional development program to help central office, teachers, paraprofessionals, and support staff to better meet the needs of students;

• Establish a robust central office hiring process to produce the best candidates and select the most competent and qualified candidate based on pre-established criteria; and

• Set consistent expectations for and define the job responsibilities of parent liaisons. Ensure the liaison’s work is focused on improving family and community relations. School chiefs must monitor this work to ensure that parent liaisons are properly used;

• Restructure the Parent Advisory Committee to increase transparency and parent participation; and

• Develop a comprehensive parent engagement plan.

The Struggle Continues…