When Carlsbad Municipal Schools Superintendent Gerry Washburn joined his New Mexico district, it was facing high teacher vacancies and low student success—and a lot of low morale. A chance conversation with Ector County, Texas, Superintendent Scott Muri showed Washburn a new option—Opportunity Culture® school redesign.
Determined to get their design and implementation of new staffing roles right, Washburn and his strong team of district leaders brought multiple parties on board early, including union representation and school board members as well as educators. In a short time, they watched schools begin to soar and lead the state: “I’ve been stunned at the acceleration that we’re seeing.”
With this design, schools have an answer to the often-denigrating question of why anyone would want to be a teacher, he said.
