This July 28-31 there is to be a big education rally in Washington — explained here: Save Our Schools March & National Call to Action. This rally is a protest of No Child Left Behind, and Race To The Top. The web-site says:

“As concerned citizens, we demand an end to the destructive policies and rhetoric that have eroded confidence in our public schools, demoralized teachers, and reduced the education of too many of our children to nothing more than test preparation.”

This sounds like a good reason to rally, and the organizers of this Washington event should have stopped with their explanation there.  But, instead, they frame the rally in these terms:  “We stand united by one belief – it’s time for teachers and parents to organize and reclaim control of our schools.”

It is a bad idea that the rally should be all about demanding that teachers and parents gain control of the schools. A lot of people who would support a call for a national discussion about how to improve public education, would oppose a solution giving control of public education to the teachers and parents.

Teachers are a special interest whose economic well-being is tied to the policies of the education system. And parents also are a special interest seeking ever more resources and advantage from the education system. I don’t think it is wise to make the rally all about providing more public money to special interests. The organizers of the rally should reframe their call to action as one of general civic concern, something all citizens should support: “It is time for citizens to organize and reclaim control …”

Citizen control — via a system of 14,000 individual school boards — is a neglected feature of the American educational system.  It has been superseded by demands coming from the federal and state levels of government — demands often created by the special interests of those most engaged in the system: teachers and parents. And it has been corrupted by the power of special interests — teachers and parents — who are engaged in choosing school board members and in setting school board policies.

The strongest way to frame a Washington rally to reform and improve public education would be to say, “It is time for citizens to organize and reclaim local control …”

See:

• What Is The Aim Of Our System Of Public Education — That Justifies Coercive Taxation?
• Our System Of Public Education Should Be Centered On Advancing “Liberty And Justice For All.”

An “Excellent” school in Ohio is defined as a school where a strong showing of its students demonstrate that they have sufficiently mastered core curricular content, and a school where attendance and graduation rates are high.

If Ohio is to meet its potential, Ohio needs to be guided by a much more profound definition and vision of “excellence” than the one now is place. If every school in Ohio would meet this standard of “Excellence,” Ohio’s system of public education would still be far from what it could and should be.

I like the conclusion reached by a Hewett Foundation study that students need “deeper learning,” that schools must prepare students to:

• Master core academic content
• Think critically and solve complex problems
• Work collaboratively
• Communicate effectively
• Learn how to learn (e.g., self-directed learning)

The foundation says: “After months of research and analysis, including more than 100 interviews with top thinkers in the fields of education, business, and public policy. Over the course of our exploration, we found widespread agreement that America’s schools must shift focus dramatically in order to prepare all of our children to succeed.”

To shift focus means to shift how one defines “excellence.”

Education is still under local control and that is why we regularly have school board elections, including this year, 2011. In a vitalized democracy, these elections would serve an important function in the community’s ongoing discussion about its system of public education, as, every two years, candidates and community members would dialogue about how their local schools are doing and about how public education in their community could be improved.

I like the insight of David Matthews of the Kettering Foundation that we need a vitalized democracy — in order for our system of public education to reach its potential.

Any board candidate worthy his or her salt should have an answer to:  What Is The Aim Of Public Education That Justifies Coercive Taxation?

Certainly, the public cannot think the aim is so shallow as Ohio’s Report Card system indicates, and if our democracy had any force, the public, via their local board elections would have a lot of opportunity to reexamine this basic question of system aim.

We pay tax to support a common good and, as I say here, the reason a society seeks to educate its young is based on the reality:  it is in youth that the future of our society rests.  Our motivation for preparing the young is, in part, self serving. Taxes for education should be an investment used to advance America toward “liberty and justice for all.”

Suppose the aim public education is to produce a citizenry with the strength of character, intellect, training and background needed to sustain our national ideals.  Certainly this would involve “deep learning,” and much more. Suppose you had $10,000 per year per student and great facilities to use, the question is: What is the design of the system that could best accomplish such an aim?

This is the e-mail note I wrote to the South of Dayton Democratic Club members, concerning our meeting tomorrow where we are to discuss our plans for this year. John Murphy is president of the club.

Thank you for reelecting me to the office of Vice-President of the South of Dayton Democratic Club.

President Murphy and I have been challenging each other to think through a vision of this club that will inspire us all to work together so that our club might grow into an ever more successful organization. Our meeting this Wednesday will be at 6:00 PM at the Wright Library in Oakwood.

I’m wondering if we could think this big:  Can we imagine how the South of Dayton Democratic Club could gain 500 new members this year and pull in $6000 in membership fees?

My thought is that we should agree on a project and tell all new members that this year $10 of their $12 dues would go toward funding an exciting and / or worthwhile project of obvious need.  And then,

1. Initiate a campaign to bring new members into the club by telephoning registered Democrats, explaining this project and giving a personal invitation to join the club.
2. Create a club web-site to refer potential new members. This web-site would contain information about the club, and would have the means for potential members to join and pay dues via Paypal, etc.  The web-site also would give detailed information concerning the project.

An obvious need is the need for meaningful civic discussion concerning important topics of the day. My thought is that every year, starting this year, our club could choose one or more topics to research, and raise money specifically to fund the needed research. The idea would be to create free seminars, open to the public, using paid presenters, possibly chosen through an RFP process.  These seminars would also be put on You-tube and posted on DaytonOS and other sites. The idea is that these seminars would serve as the context for growing community.

My first choices for possible topic this year:

• Ohio’s new budget
• The future of public education

Sincerely, Mike Bock