Do we have the schools that we want?

[Ken Messersmith]

We had two professors, Dr. Joel Anderson and Dr. Haroon Kharem, from the State University of New York (SUNY) on campus yesterday to speak as a part of our Martin Luther King observances. These men both grew up in New York City and had to survive the gangs, inferior schools, etc. that existed in their neighborhoods. In spite of these odds, both men have earned PhD's and are prolific scholars in the areas of education and government policy with regard to schools. They wrote a book titled, "Our Schools Suck" which is written from the viewpoint of students in inner city schools in New York and Los Angeles.

Dr. Anderson made a statement to me as I visited with him after their presentation yesterday at noon that has haunted me since he said it. He said, "I believe we have the schools we want." He believes that the people in power in our governments at all levels make decisions to allocate resources to get what we collectively want as a society. The premise is that we could allocate those resources in a different way to put more emphasis on education if we really wanted to.

His argument is hard to refute. Does this mean that we really want schools in our inner cities that graduate fewer than 50% of the children who attend? Do we really want a small district in rural Nebraska to prepare students for their future without teaching them how to leverage technology to make themselves more productive?

I am still trying to sort this out. Does this mean that those of us in the education field are not doing enough to be stewards of our educational system?

[Craig Badura]

I disagree.  If the government wants our low income, poverty stricken, high ELL schools to fail, then why in Nebraska do we give the most state aid to those schools while the "wealthy" districts are now making cuts and doing with less and less to educate our children?

[John Moloney]

 

I think the answer to this question is "yes", if you can tell me who the "we" are!

 

I hate to sound pessimistic, but my influence on state and national policy has a very limited impact. I often feel more of a pawn in a much larger scheme of things. Our founding fathers realized the importance of schools, education and the educated worker. If they had not, we would have failed the industrial revolution race. Unless the current "race" is a race to nowhere (http://www.slantmagazine.com/film/review/race-to-nowhere/4988 ) we could collectively say, "We have met the seven headed leviathan or at least an oversized hydra." While I like a good conspiracy item, I just don't see a "vision" for education; I don't see any visionaries willing to promote the general good. Economics and possible greed drive most of what is going on today. Not the best of principles to found a society on.

Right or wrong, there has been a perception set forth stating that education in the U.S. is in trouble. Ever met someone from Brazil, Columbia, Africa, etc., and talked with them about education? 1st thing they lack is teachers and when they talk about classrooms, whoa! Their schools are at least 100 years behind ours in almost all aspects. Are we exaggerating and fueling fires that don't exist or at least could be better handled.

 

And let's not ignore the obvious fact that someone believes that everyone should be educated whether they want to be or not. The economics of other countries does not provide for the general education of all, since as is often the case, not everyone believes in the principle itself. The disenchantment within the process seems to come from a lack of where is this going at what opportunities will I reach as a result of this. In the end it seems to break down to not the general good, but rather what's in it for me!

 

I'm not sure if it was Machiavelli who stated the basic difference betweein a puppet and a human was that a human could look up and see who was pulling the strings. Today the twine is much finer and the lines many. Inequities abound, but who said it was perfect and who forgot that true processes take a lot of time and energy. Got a minute, check out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKgTWQMFHJ0

[John Moloney]

Tammy,
Thanks for a very interesting link. It's been said before and not by me, we should evaluate our system of evaluation. Further, surveys and evaluations should not be just left to teachers, but those who purport to improve things by dealing with the numbers. The really odd thing about America has been the simple fact that we are all entitled to a public education whether we want it or not! The really sharp thinkers I've run into over the years have been teachers of themselves and they tend to blaze their own trails. Who really knows what the students of tomorrow needs, except the students themselves? An informal part of their education should be a strong dose of independence and an insight to look within themselves for the answers. Who better to know yourself than you?