What is the Springfield Empowerment Zone?
The Springfield Empowerment Zone Partnership (SEZP) was created to accelerate student achievement in the City of Springfield’s most underperforming schools, schools where frequently the most complex and the most vulnerable student populations lie.
The core partners behind SEZP – the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, Springfield Public Schools and the Springfield Education Association – envisioned that the autonomous conditions in SEZP could help usher in innovative and substantive solutions to the perennial challenges that these school face.
As a “zone” of 17 schools serving 5300 students, SEZP’s approach draws on a deep and embedded partnership with the school district and local teachers’ union, harnesses the flexibility and innovation of autonomous school models, and offers customized support as a non-profit school improvement partner.
SEZP schools operate under independent contracts with both the school district and teachers’ union, and are governed by a non-profit board of directors made up of the Mayor, Superintendent, and local school committee designee, as well as four additional representatives - appointed by the Massachusetts Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education - who either live in the region or have close ties to the city.
In all of its work, SEZP is in pursuit of equity and anti-racism – acknowledging the systemic oppression our students and families encounter daily and working to disrupt these provision gaps urgently and courageously. Learn more about our equity work here.
The core partners behind SEZP – the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, Springfield Public Schools and the Springfield Education Association – envisioned that the autonomous conditions in SEZP could help usher in innovative and substantive solutions to the perennial challenges that these school face.
As a “zone” of 17 schools serving 5300 students, SEZP’s approach draws on a deep and embedded partnership with the school district and local teachers’ union, harnesses the flexibility and innovation of autonomous school models, and offers customized support as a non-profit school improvement partner.
SEZP schools operate under independent contracts with both the school district and teachers’ union, and are governed by a non-profit board of directors made up of the Mayor, Superintendent, and local school committee designee, as well as four additional representatives - appointed by the Massachusetts Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education - who either live in the region or have close ties to the city.
In all of its work, SEZP is in pursuit of equity and anti-racism – acknowledging the systemic oppression our students and families encounter daily and working to disrupt these provision gaps urgently and courageously. Learn more about our equity work here.
What makes an Empowerment Zone unique?
Empowerment Zones are a partnership with a district that sustainably provides a cohort of Zone schools with wide autonomy and strong accountability under innovative governance. Zone schools remain part of the district, yet operate under a different structure and system that sustains and protects that autonomy over time, supports existing schools to take advantage of their newfound freedoms and selectively adds new talent and leadership where needed.
An Empowered school looks the same as the traditional school – same building, same district, same students, and it works with existing leaders and educators in the building – but operates with a key difference; meaningful and protected school-level autonomy.
With autonomy over budget, staffing, schedule, curriculum, and culture, leaders and educators at the school-level can create an environment tailor-made for the needs of their unique set of students.
We believe that empowering people to think critically and act for themselves is a crucial element in building effective systems and teams. We seek to equip educators, schools, and communities with whom we partner with the tools and knowledge they need to realize their vision and be held accountable for their decisions. We build the capacity of our team members to execute their role in driving toward organizational goals because we know this work is bigger than any one person and that our success depends on the shared vision and work of all contributors.
We seek solutions to advance equity and excellence in education, and we believe that this is only possible through partnership, communication, and collaboration with diverse stakeholders who share that commitment. We work to form genuine partnerships that bring people often at odds with each other together to blaze a path forward. We are committed to building an organization and a movement that values and leverages the strength of diverse experiences to maximize the positive impact of our work.
You can learn about other Empowerment Zones throughout the U.S. here.