Happy Memorial Day!

Hello out there! Yes, there has been a long hiatus for this Public Education Matters blog! I've just been terribly busy! Which is not to say I've been any busier than the Indiana legislature with their slash and burn Education agenda; but here's the thing, while they got to run in, do their damage, and then go home and rest without giving it nary another thought, I (like every other public school teacher in Indiana) have been stuck here trying to live with and clean up the mess they've made. And so I hope you'll excuse me if I've gotten a bit behind in my writing.

Today's blog is actually a letter to the editor of my local newspaper, The Bluffton News-Banner. The letter printed here on this blog is actually twice of what I've submitted to the paper and I'm not even sure if the shortened version will be printed as it's still quite long. I will also say that this letter is not even half of what it really should be; it doesn't cover near enough, but given that I've been out of commission for some time, let's consider it a start. (-:

Dear Editor,
This letter is responding to two separate items in Saturday’s Bluffton News-Banner. The first is Chet Baumgartner’s article “What’s the Best Test?” and the second is the letter written by Lee Coleman and Representative Jeff Espich’s response to him. The common theme of these two items is the so-called reform of education in our state. (Indiana) Also, while it may not be readily apparent, another common theme I'd like to tie in is Democracy. On this Memorial Day, I find this fitting to address. After all, Democracy, with all it's rights and freedoms, is the cause for which our war veterans have offered and given their lives.

Mr. Coleman’s letter asks whether or not the provision of vouchers to parochial schools is constitutional. It’s a very good question. Perhaps though, it’s a question better addressed to our court system than to Representative Espich. Because while there are many who might agree with him that it sometimes seems the moral fabric of our society is unraveling, the thought that vouchers might be a partial remedy to that, is, in a word, unnerving. Plain and simple, leaders in our nation’s history set up a PUBLIC school system funded through PUBLIC dollars, thereby assuring all of our country’s citizens, no matter what race, creed, gender, or religion they practiced, the right of and privilege to a free public education.

And while it’s tempting to follow Representative Espich’s line of reasoning that a voucher’s intention is to help the child, not the institution it goes to; you must also realize that this money you siphon AWAY from the public schools and give to the “child” to give to private interests (no matter who they are) is a BLOW to public education. I’m curious as to how many more blows public education can take before it’s completely decimated and education is no longer available to the masses but only exists for those whose parents take an interest or those who can afford it.

Moreover, it kind of scares me that for all his good intentions, Representative Espich, seems to have fallen into illogic regarding the separation of church and state. He and many others seem to think that the separation is something that is hurting religion rather than the ultimate protection of it. If we don’t hold onto that protection, then sooner or later, the Taxpayer dollar goes to majority rule. I would think that those who are Christian would be particularly interested in this protection these days, because as we become a more diverse nation and a globally linked world, we might note that Christianity may someday lose status as the most practiced religion in this country. Even Representative Espich notes that the media is reporting that fewer and fewer people are attending church.

But whether Christianity is your concern or not, a look back at the history of public education in the United States tells us that giants such as Thomas Jefferson, George Washington and Noah Webster believed that education should be under the control of the government, free from religious biases, and available to all people irrespective of their status in society.

This brings us to Mr. Baumgartner’s article, where he cites Bluffton Principal Steve Baker’s update on the consideration of PARCC by the Indiana Education Roundtable as a further means of testing our students. I’ll skip the arguments for now (although if you'd like to read further please take a look-see at this report by a blue ribbon panel of the National Academy of Science which says that our testing craze has been of no real benefit to student achievement http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=12521 ) as to whether more of any kind of testing is necessary at this time to better serve our students, but I think it is important for the public to know that the real impetus behind the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers is not really just a consortium of education officials from 25 states (as Mr. Baumgartner states,) but rather an organization called Achieve.

Achieve was started in 1996 not by educators but by the nation’s governors and corporate leaders. According to Achieve’s website it is funded by the following organizations: The Battelle Foundation, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, The Boeing Company, the BrookhillFoundation, The Carnegie Corp. of New York, The GE Foundation, IBM Corporation, Intel Foundation, JPMorgan Chase Foundation, Lumina, Nationwide, Noyce Foundation, The Prudential Foundation, State Farm Insurance Companies, and The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.

This “consortium” of corporate or moneyed interests is hardly representative of the general population of this country or this state or this county and hardly representative of the educational leaders and researchers in this country.

It is of great concern to me that our PUBLIC education system still currently available to ALL (students with disabilities, students going to college, and students directly entering the workforce) and the current “reform” efforts are not being driven by the voters (parents, teachers, small business owners etc) with a huge stake in survival of democracy with guidance by true educational leaders, but rather, being manipulated by a number of corporations and individuals who seem intent on turning over the public’s school system one voucher and one disregard of
democratic principles at a time.

On this Memorial Day, I sincerely hope that the very sincerely intended Mr. Baker will consider all this as he participates in the Indiana Education Roundtable. Because at best, all of this seems to me a complete distortion of the democratic system and the freedoms that were fought for by our country’s war heroes.

I'd also like to offer an opportunity to participate in a movement that I believe represents the best of what our nation's historic leaders had in mind when it comes to PUBLIC Education in this country! Please join with us at www.saveourschoolsmarch.org