I have been working on a project this year as a Fellow with the Cornell Public Service Center, a project that could make Ithaca a model of a community that truly supports our public school students.  This project encourages area employers to offer their employees paid release time (determined by the ability of the employer) so employees can participate as parents and/or community members in various efforts to support local students. Examples of participation include community and family members tutoring students, serving on ICSD hiring committees, attending their students’ conferences, spending time in their children’s classrooms, or serving on their school’s site-based council.

Why does Ithaca need such a program?  Many of you may be aware of the Equity Report Card, the result of collaboration between the Village at Ithaca and the ICSD.  The Report Card demonstrates the disparities for students of color and poor students compared to their white middle class counterparts in a variety of areas including test scores, suspension rates, and graduation rates.

The Equity Report Card also reveals a huge disparity between the number of students of color and the number of district staff of color. When children rarely see someone who looks like them in the schools, it can contribute to their feelings of alienation.  The lack of teachers of color also affects white students, who are  denied the opportunity to experience multiple perspectives and approaches.  This disproportionality is a contributing factor to the lack of success the ICSD has had with its students of color, and one of the district’s goals as stated in the ICSD Equity Plan is to increase the number of staff of color.

I have been working for the past year in a collaborative effort with the Village at Ithaca and the ICSD to recruit community members to serve on interview and screening committees for new ICSD employees. This effort is geared toward the recruitment, hiring and retention of more qualified staff of color to support the success of students of color who are currently being underserved in the ICSD. If qualified candidates of color are not available, we try to identify other candidates who demonstrate an understanding of equity issues and the skills to support our historically underserved students.

As the volunteer coordinator of this initiative, I have found that many community members (especially hourly workers) are unable to serve on ICSD interview and screening committees due to their employment commitments.  As a retired teacher, I know from experience that many family members are unable to be involved in their children’s education for the same reason.  The project I am undertaking will contribute toward the ICSD goal of increasing family and community involvement in the school district. Additionally, it is in the interest of all members of our community to ensure that all our children succeed, thereby supporting Ithaca’s economic growth and health as a place where all our children become productive members of the community.  This is one meaning of the African proverb: It takes a village to raise a child.

Some have viewed this project as a request for more employee benefits, but that is not my intention; rather, I would frame it as asking employers to enrich the entire community by supporting the schools.  When students don’t graduate from high school, we all pay for that in multiple ways.  It is to our advantage to have all our young people contributing to our community and economy.  When Cornell and other employers desire to recruit a more diverse workforce, the reputation of our schools as safe, inclusive and successful is an important factor.  This is an investment in our community that benefits us all.  The Chamber of Commerce showed their understanding of this in the recent dialogue they hosted with over 100 business representatives examining the impact of race and class in our schools and how they can make a difference.

I have had many helpful conversations with our community’s leaders, employers and employees that have encouraged my efforts to achieve this vision.  I am proposing this project as a one-year pilot study, possibly with a defined cap on participation (for example, up to 20% of employees) to determine the degree of interest by employees and the potential cost to employers.  I welcome help and suggestions. 

If you would like to provide feedback about this initiative, please fill out this online survey for EMPLOYEES or this online survey for EMPLOYERS .

Roberta Wallitt, a retired teacher, is on the Board of Directors of the Village at Ithaca, and is also a member of ACTION (Activists Committed To Interrupting Opression Now). Dr. Wallitt can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .