Letters to the Next President: What We Can Do About the Real Crisis in Public Education
Publication Type:
Web ArticleYear of Publication:
2004Abstract:
Bill Ferriter, a North Carolina NBCT, uses a letter format review to introduce this collection of letters from people across the board involved in education: teachers, students, administrators, experts.
Citation: Glickman, C. (Ed.). (2004) Letters to the next president: What we can do about the real crisis in public education. New York: Teacher’s College Press.
Full Text:
Carl Glickman, Editor
2004 (288 pp./paperback)
Teacher's College Press
ISBN: 0-8077-4427-1
$14.95
Reviewed by Bill Ferriter
Salem Middle School
Wake County Public School System
Dear Mr. President,
Congratulations on your reelection and recent inauguration. Like few men, you have the opportunity to leave an indelible mark on history. Your emphasis on spreading the torch of freedom to the oppressed of the world is a noble goal, and I am proud to have you represent me.
It is my sincere hope, however, that your efforts begin by focusing on the oppressed in our own country. The social inequities between our nation's rich and poor are glaring and a source of shame. Our country weakens each time a new family falls below the poverty line or a young person is incarcerated. The promise of equality has been lost for so many.
I believe that our system of public education is the key to restoring this promise. With the world changing exponentially, success in school is a necessity like no other time in history. There are few opportunities for unskilled workers today, and college admission has become increasingly competitive. It is our charge to prepare every child for success in this new reality.
Sadly, however, we are failing. Schools are not equal and the achievement gap between students of means and students of poverty continues to grow. Until these inequities are addressed, millions of Americans will not have the opportunities that democracy has offered to generations before.
To that end, I urge you to read Letters to the Next President: What We Can Do About the Real Crisis in Public Education. Edited by Carl Glickman, Letters is a collection of ideas from students, educators, and experts about what needs to be done to reinvent public education.
Listen to U.S. Senator Jim Jeffords and William Mathis, a current board member of the American Education Finance Association, as they describe the importance of fully funding education. Jeffords documents a nearly 40-year history of under-funding programs designed to support our students of greatest need. Mathis questions our nation's desire to ensure equality of education for all students, as leaving no child behind would take "fundamental new investments of between 20 percent and 35 percent of our national total education expenditure."
Consider the importance of quality teachers with Jane Butters, an assistant principal and lead mentor at a hard-to-staff school in Austin, Texas. Butters' dedication to students who others have abandoned provides her with a perspective on education that few can share. Her recommendations for keeping excellent teachers at our most challenging schools include listening to teachers, providing incentives, and changing the national tone towards education. Especially poignant are her words about the damage that coercive labels have had on teacher morale. "Please have high expectations of teachers," she writes, "but do not bash and belittle us and then expect us to raise our heads from a pool of blood and create miracles."
Then read the words of Lisa Delpit, the Executive Director at Florida International University's Center for Urban Education and Innovation, who urges us to challenge our most challenging students. While the temptation to teach down to children of poverty is great, we must ensure that every child receives rigorous instruction from caring professionals. Pre-packaged programs that focus on nothing more than the "basics" are insufficient. As she so eloquently says, "We must have schools and teachers that, despite widespread societal stereotypes, understand and teach to the brilliance of African American children."
Reflect on the original purpose of schooling in America with Senator John Glenn and Leslie Hergert, former director of the National Commission on Service Learning. "Numerous studies," they write, "have documented youth's low voter participation rate, negative opinion of elected officials, and general alienation from government and politics. Young people have learned apathy, not engagement. For our democracy and economy to survive in the twenty-first century, we must reverse these trends. We call on the next president to reclaim the public purpose of education and include preparation for citizenship as an important goal of education."
Please spend time with these writers, Mr. President. Thirty-four people have taken the time to share their thoughts with you. Let their wisdom guide your decisions on the policies that profoundly influence all of our citizens, and promise to stand for our children. With your help, we can make equality of opportunity something more than a forgotten promise in America again.
We're Counting on You,
Bill Ferriter
