William J. Slotnik

William J. Slotnik is the founder and executive director of the Community Training and Assistance Center, or CTAC.

CTAC builds capacity and addresses root causes of poverty at local, state, and national levels by providing technical assistance, conducting research and evaluation, and supporting public policy initiatives. CTAC’s staff is comprised of nationally recognized executives, educators, policymakers, researchers, and organizers. Since 1979, Slotnik has led CTAC in assisting and partnering with hundreds of school systems, states, unions, nonprofit organizations, coalitions, and philanthropic institutions to achieve positive and lasting results in low income communities. This includes catalyzing major innovations throughout the United States in such areas as state-to-district assistance, performance-based compensation, school and district turnarounds, desegregation, and community development. In this context, CTAC filled a dual role in Denver’s Pay for Performance pilot for teachers: providing the technical assistance to ensure a pilot of quality and integrity, and conducting the study of the impact of the pilot on student achievement, teacher quality, and systems change. CTAC assists a range of districts and states throughout the United States to incorporate compensation changes (linking what professionals earn to what students learn) as a core element of broader systemic reform. Mr. Slotnik regularly provides briefings to members of the U.S. Congress, the U.S. Department of Education, state legislatures, and state departments of education. More information is available at www.ctacusa.com.

Representative examples of CTAC’s work include:

Leadership of School Reform: Created the initiative that develops the capacity of urban school districts to implement systemic school reform and restructuring, and to evaluate the impact of their reforms on the educational system and on student achievement. This initiative was implemented in Albuquerque, NM, Camden, NJ, Christina, DE, Cleveland, OH, Jackson, MS, Newark, NJ, Palm Beach County, FL, and Salt Lake City, UT.

National Urban Reform Network: Established the 15-city coalition of urban school districts, corporate chief executive officers, community agencies, and parents to shape national policy on issues of education and family support. The network was one of only three national organizations to testify in the final round of ESEA hearings and the only organization to testify for both parties on IDEA. The network’s major positions were adopted in both pieces of legislation.

Comprehensive District Accountability: Created a model system of assessment and accountability to determine the performance and effectiveness of a school district, school by school and student by student. Numerous school districts are implementing CTAC’s accountability model and developing concrete strategies to address the core issues affecting the academic performance of students.

Desegregation: Provided the training which enabled the Cambridge Public Schools to effectively implement an innovative racial balancing plan which introduced Controlled Choice in the United States. This work has been hailed for being integral to the most effective process of school desegregation in the nation.