Leader of the Empowering Males of Color program is leaving D.C. schools
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Version 0 of 1. Robert Simmons, a professor of urban education who joined D.C. Public Schools last year to build programs for minority boys, is leaving as his initiative is just getting underway. Simmons, who held a senior-level position as the school system’s chief of innovation and research, confirmed in an interview that Friday was his last day on the job. He said that after working long hours during the past year, he wants to have more time with his family, including his wife, his mother in Detroit, and his son, who lives out of town and will be starting kindergarten next fall. “He needs a good start,” Simmons said. “This is about my family.” Simmons’s departure creates some immediate uncertainty for one of Schools Chancellor Kaya Henderson’s priorities — the Empowering Males of Color initiative. The program has strong support from Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D), who vowed to make improving opportunities for young minority men a top issue for her administration. The academic performance of black and Latino male students lags far behind that of other groups of students on multiple measures — including graduation rates and reading scores. Simmons built up the groundwork for the initiative over the past year, and he joined Bowser and Henderson to announce the $20 million effort in January. But it’s just getting started. [D.C. schools to invest $20 million in efforts to help black and Latino male students] Less than a month ago, Simmons emceed an event at Howard University to start a new mentoring program. He said the District was close to its goal of recruiting 500 volunteers to spend at least a year reading with male minority students in the school system. The city also plans to open an all-boys college preparatory high school in the heavily minority area east of the Anacostia River next fall in addition to focusing funds on new efforts to enhance the academic, social and emotional development of black and Latino male students in schools. “The work is incredibly important,” Simmons said. “I believe things will continue.” In an e-mail Henderson sent Friday to central office staff, she said that Simmons built a “strong foundation” for the work of providing more support to help male minority students become more successful. “Although he is leaving the organization, we will remain committed to the EMOC priorities,” she said in the e-mail. “This work has always been, and will continue to be, everyone’s work.” She said some of the specific initiatives Simmons handled will be administered by different offices. Michael Czin, a spokesman for Bowser, praised Simmons: “We thank Mr. Simmons for his service and work on the EMOC initiative and wish him the best moving forward.” Before working for D.C. schools, Simmons was a professor and director of the Center for Innovation in Urban Education at Loyola University Maryland. [D.C. schools hire expert to help improve outcomes for African American boys] In a statement last year, when he was hired, Henderson told The Washington Post that Simmons, who grew up in Detroit and whose father spent time in prison, was a model for other minority boys in the school system. “He overcame the odds in Detroit and throughout his career,” Henderson had said. “His accomplishments and bodies of work, both academic and practical, focus on ensuring success for poor and minority students. He brings great insight and experience to our DCPS family.” |