COMMENTARY

Lofton & Weeks: Standing strong with Pearce Middle School in Austin

Michael Lofton & Allen Weeks, LOCAL CONTRIBUTORS

We believe in Pearce Middle School.

We believe in the faculty and staff, the students and their parents and this strong community that has supported Pearce and our other neighborhood schools.

We know the important role Pearce has played in the Austin community for more than 50 years, producing many leaders for our community, city and state, including three current members of the Texas Legislature — Kip Averitt, R-Waco; Dawnna Dukes, D-Austin; and Donna Howard, D-Austin.

We believe in Pearce because the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills results undeniably prove our efforts are working. Pearce students this year met each of the state's standards to be rated acceptable except in eighth-grade science, missing by 5 percent or less. Further, over the last two years every student group in every subject area has shown improvement — not a single decline in scores. Given this remarkable performance, there is every indication that Pearce is on the right path toward helping our students succeed.

The Texas Education Agency, however, stated its belief earlier this month that Pearce should be closed despite our students' strong performance over the past two years. We could argue the merits of this decision, but one thing we can agree on is that Pearce must move forward.

The commissioner did allow the Austin school district to propose a "repurposing" plan for the school. That plan has been submitted, and the district has responded to follow-up questions from the TEA. We believe that it is a strong plan for Pearce and has become even stronger over the past weeks with the commissioner's input.

This plan was developed throughout the spring with strong involvement from the Pearce community. This plan also has the full support and commitment of elected legislative and city officials, religious and civic leaders and school district personnel. This plan will help our students build upon the measurable academic improvement of the past two years while maintaining a neighborhood school.

Though we believe our school district has much to do to make sure Pearce has the resources and support it needs to provide quality education, we believe that our new superintendent, Meria Carstarphen, is committed to Pearce, its students and its community.

We know well the challenges of supporting and turning around a school. Two years ago, nearby Webb Middle School was also on the verge of being closed. With strong community support, Webb is now thriving and has been mentioned by both the commissioner and former U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings as a model. We believe the same thing is beginning to happen at Pearce.

The alternative is closing Pearce and sending students on long bus rides to other schools, effectively disrupting the progress made at Pearce.

Time is short. For our children's sake, we ask that both the Austin school district and the TEA work expeditiously to approve the repurposing plan so that the community can continue the important work of helping students succeed and welcome them to Pearce on Aug. 24 for the new school year.

Lofton is a community leader and voice of the Michael Lofton Talk Show. Weeks is president of the St. John Community School Alliance.

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 Michael Lofton speaks to the audience at the African American Men & Boys/Women & Girls

From talk, came action ... and success soon followed

Activist's conferences shaping African American community.

By Juan Castillo
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Friday, June 19, 2009

With a familiar, chest-rattling voice strewn with gravel and glass and honey, Michael Lofton has long talked about African American lives on his weekly cable access mainstay, "The Michael Lofton Talk Show."

Seventeen years' worth of talking. A good deal of it focused on the problems derailing the futures of many young African Americans in Central Texas, such as academic achievement gaps, and character and discipline issues.

Then one night in 2006, with his patience unraveling, Lofton decided he was done talking. Frustrated that the problems weren't going away, Lofton fired off a long e-mail to a group of African American pastors. He said he needed their help rallying others to act on real-life issues not raised in the stories of Luke, John and Paul.

The e-mail's tone was respectful, Lofton said, but he went to sleep fretting that he had "probably handled it the wrong way." When he awoke, he made a dash for his computer.

"Let's do it," the ministers had responded.

Lofton said he looked at his reflection in the mirror and asked, "What are you going to do now?"

Lofton quickly began assembling a small army of ardent soldiers — parents, educators, mentors, church and community leaders who shared his passion to help young men succeed in the classroom and in life. Just weeks after that e-mail exchange with the pastors, he created the African American Men and Boys Conference, where the men would try to motivate the boys to make good grades, set goals and stay out of trouble. About 200 boys, men and parents attended that first gathering in June 2006.

That was three years and 30 conferences ago.

Now the conferences typically pull crowds two or three times as big, and Lofton estimates that 18,000 people have attended and a core group of about 75 volunteers has worked 4,500 hours to put them on. The conferences have expanded to include women and girls, Hispanics and whites. They have spread to Manor, Round Rock and Pflugerville. They have spawned mentoring programs — including one through the University of Texas — that reach hundreds more students. And they have inspired the Austin public school district's Hispanic Futures Conference series.

"This is a movement, and Michael is leading it," said Andre Matthews, a Houston educator who drives hundreds of miles to participate in the conferences.

'A great cheerleader for mankind'

Supporters said the Men and Boys/Women and Girls conferences are a testament to Lofton's energy and organizational skills, his staggering 5,000-plus network of contacts, and — maybe above all — a sheer force of will that many find contagious.

"He doesn't think there's anything he can't do," said Bret Cormier, an assistant principal at Stony Point High School in the Round Rock school district.

"Mike is the type of guy that makes everybody feel good about themselves. He's a great cheerleader for mankind," said Nat Bradford, a retired IBM programmer who has been a mentor at all but a couple of the 31 conferences.

It takes dozens of people to put on each one, but Lofton, 51, is the avuncular behind-the-scenes catalyst. He recruits the speakers, the mentors, the volunteers, the representatives from nonprofit groups and the financial supporters. During the first year, Lofton spent thousands of dollars of his own money to pay for snacks and beverages for the gatherings, said Melvin Wrenn, a local business development consultant.

Perpetually cheery, Lofton deflects credit. "We're doing this," he said. "It's not just me."

Lofton said he was fueled by his belief that a community could affect change from within by working together, engaging parents and students and giving them the resources they needed to tackle issues in and out of the classroom. Providing successful adult role models, particularly for young boys from homes headed by single moms, was critical to the vision.

"In many ways, Michael sees the bigger picture better than most of us," said Mark Williams, the president of the Austin school board. "His work is not only about making our community a better place for our kids, but helping our kids make a better community."

'The root of all our problems'

Lofton credits his best friend — his father Dave, the man who raised him in their home near Huston-Tillotson University — for teaching a strong work ethic. A used furniture and antiques dealer who had a number of shops including a fixture on Sixth and Sabine streets in East Austin, Dave Lofton died in Michael's arms of cancer on New Year's Day 1985.

When Michael was 8, he had learned to refinish antiques for lunch money, and by the time he was 16, father and son were business partners.

"He taught me early on how to become independent," Lofton said.

After attending Austin Community College, Lofton became a production supervisor at Motorola and Tracor, where he oversaw the work of production managers during a more than 20-year-career in the field that ended with his layoff from Motorola in the mid-1990s.

Lofton said his entry into community access TV in 1992 gave him the platform he embraced, and never let go, as a community activist.

In 2005, Lofton began working with Cormier, then working in the Austin school district, who was trying to close the achievement gap for African American students.

Lofton said a report by Cormier detailing how African American males were overrepresented among those expelled or suspended in U.S. public schools opened his eyes.

"I thought, 'Oh, my God. Here's the root of all our problems,' " Lofton said.

The conversations with Cormier that followed were the genesis for the men and boys conferences.

'Kind of like life coaching'

The gospel-influenced 1960s song, "A Change is Gonna Come," fluttered over the loudspeakers as youngsters and their parents filled the Garcia Middle School gym in Northeast Austin for a conference in April.

Lofton seemed to be everywhere, introducing featured speakers — "Do you all love (Austin Municipal Court) Judge (Evelyn) McKee? Give her some love!" — orchestrating traffic behind the scenes, embracing volunteers and parents. Cupping his arm around a student's neck — a scene repeated throughout the day — he chirped, "How are you, young man?"

The conferences are equal parts resource centers, character- and confidence-building seminars, and mentoring workshops on topics such as resolving conflicts, preparing for college, dealing with peer pressure, respecting self and others — no subject seems too narrow.

"It's kind of like life coaching," said David Poku, a student at McNeil High School. "The conferences give you the hope that it is possible and realistic to be successful as African Americans."

Speakers such as McKee and Nelson Linder, president of the Austin branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, frequently lend a certain star power. In the gym, Linder spoke to hundreds about making smart decisions and learning how to resolve conflicts intellectually.

"Violence is unacceptable. Think your way through life," Linder said.

In July 2007, as the conferences gained momentum, Lofton founded the nonprofit African American Men and Boys Harvest Foundation, which now supports the effort. Lofton said it operates on a $250,000 annual budget and receives support from the Austin school district, the University of Texas, the City of Austin and Travis County, among others.

'If we don't do this, what do we do?'

Though the gains might be modest, Williams, the Austin school board president, said the conferences and their offshoots are making a difference.

The gap in Austin between white and African American students' passing rates on the state skills test required for graduation has narrowed since the conferences started. In 2005, the year before the conferences began, 88 percent of white students passed all TAKS subjects, compared with 54 percent of Hispanic students and 46 percent of African American students. Last year, 89 percent of white students, 57 percent of Hispanics and 49 percent of African Americans passed all subjects, and preliminary results showed 3 to 7 percent gains for minority students in 2009.

Disciplinary problems among African American students fell in 2008, according to school district data.

Trying to break long-standing patterns of behavior, societal influences and challenges in the school system is not easy, Williams said. But he added: "If we don't do this, what do we do?"

Lofton agrees that greater success will take time. "There needs to be more parental involvement, and there needs to be more churches involved," he said.

But he's not discouraged.

"I wanted to be able to make a difference in kids' lives, to make them productive citizens," Lofton said. He smiled. "I'm fulfilling every dream I had."

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