Back to Shool with Dr. Gerald Kohn

Back to Shool with Dr. Gerald Kohn
Meet Harrisburg's New Superintendent

by Karla Vierthaler

You wouldn’t think he’d be so calm. Dr. Gerald Kohn has taken on the biggest challenge Harrisburg has to offer, and yet he acts as though his highly scheduled days fit into a life of leisure.

The new superintendent of the Harrisburg School District assumed his position in mid-July, and with school starting September 5, wouldn’t you be a bit frantic?

But Kohn is calm, and pleasantly amused. His large office is spotless, and he’s relaxing between meetings, drinking a Diet Coke. The scene in his reception area was a bit more frantic. There was a constant flow of traffic, people in and out, all with matters that didn’t seem like they could wait. His secretary has Kohn’s life scheduled in ten-minute increments.

The first question that enters the mind is why: Why would a person accept this challenge? Kohn took an $8,500 pay cut to take over a school district with issues that date back over 20 years.

Yet to hear him talk about his plan for the Harrisburg School District, Kohn seems half martyr, half super hero. He knows the extent of his challenge, and will tell you repeatedly how excited he is to get started.

“I love a challenge, and there’s clearly a challenge here in the school district,” he says. “Mayor [Stephen) Reed wants to do for the schools what he’s been able to do for the city in the last 20 years. That is something I’ve had a history of success in — taking on real challenges and turning around school districts.”

If this were a Batman and Robin scenario, Mayor Reed would be driving the Batmobile down Second Street on his way to work. The two are united by what seems to be an insatiable desire to make Harrisburg the best it can be. When asking Kohn why he chose to take over the superintendent’s post, he answers quickly, “Because the city is such an exciting place to live. I fell in love with it when I first came here. Clearly there has been a renewal and renovation of the city over the last 20 years since Mayor Reed took over.” Continuing, he adds, “I frankly was also charmed and convinced by Mayor Reed to come here.”

Some of you may remember, in the not so distant past, a takeover of the school district implemented by Mayor Reed. It seemed as though corruption had seeped through every level of the Harrisburg Public Schools, touching all involved, from principals to wide-eyed pupils. It’s an ugly past, one that’s hard to get over so quickly.

Can this newcomer really help Harrisburg’s schools? Surprisingly enough, he’s helped other cities bounce back from the same kind of setback. “My last school district in New Jersey was the subject of a state takeover, ordered by the New Jersey Supreme Court. The only difference is that they left the school board in place, while here in Harrisburg the Mayor has appointed the new school board, so I am very familiar with being the superintendent in a school district where there is a takeover in place.”

Also among Kohn’s list of credentials is impressive experience in an urban school district. “I was the first director of desegregation for the Cambridge, Massachusetts, school district. We developed what is considered to be the most successful voluntary desegregation plan for an urban school district. The planning started in 1977 and took over three years. We turned a city that was at that time the poorest city in Massachusetts, with some of the lowest test scores of any school district, into what is now considered to be one of the model cities for the United States. Because of the success of this program, we were able to attract back middle income and even wealthier families with children because the schools became so good.” Super hero indeed.

“The biggest challenge will be changing the culture that’s imbedded in a school district, in this district for maybe the past 30 to 40 years. There seems to be a sense of failure and lack of trust that I’ve observed in all of the adults in the school district,” Kohn says, “and it’s our job to change that to one of collaboration, collegiality, and team work so that we best serve the kids.”

And how does he plan on changing the aura of our schools? “The first thing we are doing for adults and children is modeling a sense of respect for one another. I believe it is my job to show respect for everyone, principals, teachers, custodians, parents, food service workers, and most of all students within the school district. So modeling, I hope show what will come about as a general expectation of our kids.”

He’s started already. Since July, he’s been making an obvious effort to unite the district. “My days have been filled, first of all, with getting to know the adults here in the school district, principals, teachers, custodians, maintenance workers, and secretaries.”

Harrisburg residents can rest assured that chitchat wasn’t the only thing occupying Kohn. “I spend a lot of time talking to people in different organizations who can provide more money and resources for us here in the school district so that we can improve educational programs for kids without ever having to raise property taxes again,” he says. “It’s clear to me that the property taxes in Harrisburg are too high and can not be increased, and so therefore I’m most interested in going after competitive grants at the federal level, state level and from corporations and foundations.”

When asked about the kind of programs he would like to implement, Kohn’s face illuminates. “My first priority is early childhood education — birth to five year olds. The research is clear that every dollar spent on high quality preschool education for children from birth to five years old is worth more than 10 dollars of benefits to those children. In other words, if we don’t spend the money from birth to five years old, then we have to spend 10 times that amount of money later on to correct what wasn’t learned by kids before they reach us in kindergarten.”

“The average for urban school districts in American of children age five entering kindergarten is one-and-a-half to two years below the national average in language skills, and they are never able to catch up because it’s just too much of a gap. We’re going to go after substantial funding to provide services, first for three and four years olds, and also for infants and toddlers birth to three year olds, so that when children reach us in kindergarten they are ready for our elementary and secondary education.”

“I feel that I am extremely well suited for this position right now because I am a workaholic and I frankly love to put in 16 to 20 hour days, seven days a week, because I feel that nothing gives me more satisfaction than seeing kids who had previously not succeeded being able to succeed in life.” And he means it.

May I present you, Harrisburg, with your new superintendent. Gerald Kohn, welcome to Harrisburg.