February 14, 2009
posted 2/14/2009 4:07 PM

Waiting on the World to Change

I’ve been thinking about the winds of change since May and what that means for our VOICE community.  We observed a historic political race where either democratic finalist or a republican VP candidate was poised to break new diversity boundaries.  We’ve been tracking the NYS Commission on Property Tax Relief chaired by Tom Suozzi and there is now a final document presented to Governor Patterson which is a blueprint for how to solve New York State’s property tax problem. (http://www.cptr.state.ny.us)  Victor Central School has completed a nine month process to select a new superintendent.  Most noteworthy, we have entered into uncertain economic times that will affect governments, schools, and families.  All of these topics are separate, but also inter-related as the winds of change blow through and around our VOICE community.

On a flight from Boston yesterday, I decided to browse my Zune music collection and find some lyrics of inspiration.  I started with Changes, by David Bowie, but the line, “And these children…” could have been quite inflammatory for our cause.  “Change the World” by Eric Clapton is more of a love song.  “Chicago/We Can the World” by Crosby, Nash, and Young and “For What It’s Worth” by Buffalo Springfield are reminiscent of the struggles faced by groups in the sixties that I believe are parallel to advocacy struggles we face for individuals with disabilities today.  “Change” by Taylor Swift and “Change” by Tracy Chapman remind us that the theme of change is still important in this decade. 

While all these songs provide inspiration to my winds of change theme, I settled on one last song that I squeezed in after the flight attendant told the passengers to turn off electronic devices.  I was able to cheat for a few extra minutes because I was in the back of the plane.  Fortunately I listened to this last song, “Waiting on the World to Change” by John Mayer which I believe was the winner.  This song stood out, not because it represents VOICE, but because it represents youth, which is what all of us in our VCS community represent. 

(http://www.lyrics.com/index.php/artists/lyric/john-mayer-p-405816-lyrics-waiting-on-the-world-to-change)

President Obama said we are not red states or blue states, but we are the United States of America.  I believe our VCS school community is not made up of a bell curve spectrum, but we are one school community united by the special gifts that over 4,000 students bring to Victor.  Now is a time to unite behind our new President on the national level and our new Superintendent on the local level to embrace these winds of change for our participation in our global community.

I am going to place my trust in our elected school board who spent countless hours over the past 10 months to solicit community feedback on all levels and choose the best candidate for the future of our district.  Now that they have chosen the best candidate, it’s important to note that while an incumbent candidate represents the hallmarks of our current success, Dawn Santiago-Marullo is also an individual who can lead us to new heights. 

Our VOICE team believes one of the keys to our future success is a heightened awareness of our own diversity which aligns closely with our current district goals for safe and welcoming schools.  I recently took a quick survey of five VCS benchmark schools in the greater Rochester area.  4 out of 5 schools have male superintendents.  I then downloaded our VCS staff directory into Excel and did some quick analysis on the ratio of male to female staff in our district.  I immediately thought of a recent ESPN discussion during a recent college bowl game for the University of Buffalo on the ratio of African-American coaches in division one college football programs.   The last time the University of Buffalo was invited to participate in a college bowl game, they declined because their whole team was not invited to participate.  While UB lost this year’s bowl game, we have been fortunate to witness the regional success of their head coach, Turner Gill.  His success comes from his skills as a coach, but above that success, he represents one on the top three tenured years as an African American head coach. 

As the winds of change blow in the next few years, we can be certain that change will be a constant factor, sometimes on a gale force level.  We need to work together through these changes.  I cannot make any promises of how these changes will land, but I can promise you that VOICE has a passionate, smart, and dedicated Advisory Board that is committed to representing our values within a shared decision making community framework.

I spoke about President Obama, Turner Gill, and Dawn Santiago-Marullo and there is one factor I noticed they all have in common.  They have all pursued what they believe to be their dream jobs in America.  As parents, this is what we wish for all of our children.  Each was chosen for these jobs because of their skills and hard work, yet each of them represent winds of change as roles models from their diversity experiences.  I’m optimistic and supportive that these changes will represent all of our children who are the youth that John Mayer highlights will deliver the change…that we keep waiting, waiting for the world to change.

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