United Way for Southeastern Michigan

One of the best bits of advice I have received lately is "Don't let the lessons from your past keep you from the promises of your future." This struck me because I hate making the same mistake twice. But the advice made me think about how many mistakes I might be making by trying to avoid repeating them.

I bring this up in light of the firing of GM CEO Rick Wagoner, a generous supporter and friend of the United Way.

The Wall Street Journal ran an editorial this morning by Paul Ingrassia, their Detroit Bureau Chief, who claims that two painful experiences in Mr. Wagoner’s early years shaped his decisions for years to come.

The first was a strike regarding the amount of work done in an 8-hour shift at a metal stamping plant in Flint that lasted 54 days and cost GM $2.2 billion. The second was his decision to close the Oldsmobile line when he became CEO in 2000. By announcing his decision first instead of making a quiet buyout effort, he began a lengthy process that took GM four years to complete and cost $1 billion. The result, according to Ingrassia, was:

 There was a can’t do mentality that accepted too many brands, too many dealers and too many workers as immutable facts of life that could only be changed slowly and gingerly, if ever.

When I read these words, I can’t help but think of the state of public education in our region, and whether five or 10 years from now the same will be said of our collective leadership:

There was a can’t-do mentality that accepted too many failing schools, too many work rules, and too many layers of bureaucracy as immutable facts of life that could only be changed slowly and gingerly, if ever.

Yes, we have made mistakes. And we have more than our share of pain. Teacher strikes. School closings. Takeover boards. How much longer will we allow the pain of our past to keep us from the promises of our future?

Arne Duncan, the U.S. Secretary of Education, is coming to speak at the United Way of America’s conference in Detroit in May. He now has $5 billion in discretionary funding for states and cities that are doing the most to close the achievement gap. When he gets here, will he meet a group of leaders and teachers with a can-do conviction that we can close the achievement gap?

The money is in his hands, but the decision is in ours.