The ongoing struggles in
our nation around equity, opportunity, freedom and the American Dream are the
result of a complex blending of many aspects of our society. We are grappling
with the reality that there are great disparities in achievement and
opportunity for many people living in America. We also are struggling to
come to terms with the historical legacy of injustice, intolerance and
authoritarian aggression that creates barriers, anger and frustration as we
seek to move forward from our present situation. There seem to be either simple
straightforward solutions to our problems (bumper sticker slogans and political
rhetoric), or no solutions whatsoever depending on which source or perspective
you choose to believe. What is clear is that we must address the many
challenges that we face in order to maintain the sustainability of our society,
as well as to create systems that serve all members of society as equitably as
possible.
It is in trying to address
the inequities that exist, and in working with the diversity that is the people
of America
that we see the complex nature of our challenges emerge. What works for one
group may encounter barriers or resistance with another. What heals old wounds
for some, opens them for others. Critiquing existing systems supports change
and offers hope, yet can also create a sense of crisis and fear. Trying to
bridge these many divisions often seems insurmountable and we see some members
of our society retreat behind walls both literal and figurative in nature. It
becomes easier to ignore the problems of others, or to minimize their
importance than to work to address the many concerns that exist in our society.
Discussion and debate fall victim to this type of thinking as we see an effort
made to silence dissenting voices and to keep the façade created by the vision
of American Exceptionalism intact.
Democracy and a society
based on individual freedom is an inherently messy way to govern a nation. The
sheer variety of opinions and the many different needs that the many
individuals and groups in our society voice create a cacophony of dissenting
viewpoints and definitions of success. It truly takes significant time and
reflection to find ways to unite such a wide range of cultures, ideas and
philosophies under a single functional and sustainable umbrella. Yet, through
all of the turmoil and conflict, America has endured and on the
whole prospered. Unfortunately, this prosperity has too often been on the backs
of a significant portion of the population that has struggled for recognition
and access to the wealth and power enjoyed by some members of our society.
As we seek to move forward
there are a small number of things that virtually all who live and work in America
agree are important. One of these is the need for a system that educates the
people of America
to become positive and productive contributors to our society. Yet, despite the
agreement that education is important, we are seeing this commonly valued resource
become a part of our battles around social justice. This is especially true
when we talk about our nation's public education system. Something that seems
on the surface to be so basic and straightforward, educating our students in
the basics that they need to thrive in society, becomes a source of conflict,
fear and anger. This isn't a new phenomenon in America, our public schools have
always been a strange combination of resource, and restriction. A place where
opportunity exists, but at the same time existing prejudices and inequities
abound. Why does something as positive as a system of public education fall
short of achieving the lofty ambitions that we have for it.
One reason is that we
really don't have a clear definition of what it means to be educated. As a
society we struggle to decide whether being educated means something practical
and employment related, or something broader and less easily defined. We want
our schools to provide both aspects of education for our students, but at the
same time aren't always financially committed to broadening our definition of
education.
Between 1886 and 1919, Andrew Carnegie planted nearly 1,700
libraries across America.
Over the years they grew. Now they are trying to survive.
npr.org
The President is correct.
washingtonpost.com
How we define success,
equity and opportunity are a part of the problems we currently face. We often
use data and to confuse or distract
others, and we manipulate "facts" to support our own opinions at the
expense of those who oppose our ideas. This is clearly identifiable in the
economic aspects of public education where we seek to define our success or
failure in economic terms and use dollars to quantify a wide variety of aspects
of our educational systems.
The superintendent of public instruction said districts
still face cuts if funding is unchanged from the last budget.
host.madison.com|By Todd D. Milewski
| The Capital Times
Changes to the Free and Reduced-Price Lunch program
undermine a long-used measurement for child poverty.
www.npr.org
Wisconsin
is projected to fall below the national average in per-pupil spending this
school year. This was the major conclusion of Michael Griffith, a senior policy
analyst at the nonpartisan Education Commission of the States, at Monday’s
“Forum on
weac.org
The Wisconsin Public Education Network met Friday and
discussed legislative priorities.
postcrescent.com
This use of data isn't
confined to economic aspects. We are seeing a movement to quantify achievement
in clearly defined and measurable terms. We are defining student success in
terms of test scores and progress towards meeting what often seem to be
arbitrary standards that don't always line up with the cognitive development of
our students.
'An appropriate curriculum for young children is one that
includes the focus on supporting children’s in-born intellectual dispositions,
their natural inclinations.'
washingtonpost.com
With the push for an earlier and earlier start to academics
for our kids, we all know the best thing we can do for them is let them play
for as long as we can....
happinessishereblog.com
We test and assess
students in order to measure achievement, but instead of using this information
to improve the quality of education for all students we see the scores used as
weapons against our schools and students. The penalties are not equally distributed
and focus more intensely on schools that serve our historically disadvantaged
populations.
Standardized testing, school accountability measures
negatively affect college readiness and...
sciencedaily.com
Students are asked to take tests they, teachers and school
administrators know they can't pass.
newsday.com
On Friday state Representative Kooyenga from Brookfield circulated a
new version of a “recovery zone” proposal that he and Senator Alberta Darling
have...
mtea.weac.org|By joebrusky
If you've taken a high-stakes test in school before, you know
how stressful it can be. But did you realize these five ways that they also
perpetuate inequality?
everydayfeminism.com
This
system of high stakes testing and accountability impacts both staff and
students in our public schools. It causes wider gaps and impacts student
achievement and long term success in many ways.
CPS corrected a coding glitch that caused errors in more
than 4,500 educators' REACH performance task scores. The mistake led to
incorrect ratings...
catalyst-chicago.org
Kids with a fixed mindset believe that you are stuck with
however much intelligence you're born with. When they fail, these kids feel
trapped. They start thinking they must not be as talented or smart as
everyone's been telling them....
m.huffpost.com
Part
of the process of reclaiming public education involves respecting the
professional knowledge and expertise that our educators have and allowing them
to be leaders in education. Too often we follow the leadership of
businesspeople or others who are outside of the field of education to lead our
efforts to improve our schools. We need to recognize the knowledge and
professionalism that our educators have when shaping important policies. The
efforts to change the way students are disciplined and the ways that we enforce
our rules in schools here in Madison
provide an example of important work that needs to be lead by school based
educators. We know that we need to reach our students more effectively and get
them more engaged in the process of learning, but we also know that there are
many barriers to making this happen. Instead of relying on broad policies that
may not address specific needs we should listen to the students, families and
staff members who work in each school and support their efforts to engage all
students.
As students streamed inside Reiche
Community School
one Monday morning, I heard a third grader exclaim, “I’m so glad to be here
today!” My colleague
educationpost.org
We also need to shed some
of our existing prejudices and work together to resolve our challenges.
Harsh response to the pair’s meeting speaks to passions
around the charter school proposal that divided them.
host.madison.com|By Pat Schneider
We
know that our schools exist in an unequal society and we know that this reality
places some restrictions on our public schools as well as impacts the climate
that our students, families and staff members work and learn in. Yet, we should
not allow our public schools to be limited by the flaws in our wider society.
Instead of mirroring the deficiencies that exist in our society we should
strive to have our schools provide the image that society emulates. We can't
let our efforts be defined by the inequities, historical legacies and other
flaws that we all know are present in American society. We can achieve great
things and strive for a socially just society, and our public schools can
provide the mechanisms to make this happen.
The
Good, The Bad and
The
Ugly. . .
The Good . . . First it was Bernie Sanders for President, now Russ Feingold is
running to return to the US Senate! The 2016 election just got even more
interesting. Hopefully these two leaders can shift the debate in our nation in
a more positive and progressive direction.
MADISON, Wis.
(AP) -- Democrat Russ Feingold has decided to run for his old Senate seat in Wisconsin against
Republican Ron Johnson, who defeated him in 2010.
http://www.nbc15.com
With the former senator's return, Democrats have a strong
chance to beat Sen. Ron Johnson in Wisconsin.
A loss could doom their chances of retaking the Senate.
nationaljournal.com
Progressively minded
citizens need to work to reclaim the Democratic Party, or push to support
viable 3rd party candidates who will work for the values that so many of us
hold dear. Business as usual isn't working well for too many citizens, or for
the future of our nation.
The latest squabble over the Trans-Pacific Partnership shows
just how low America's
"Progressive" Party has sunk
rollingstone.com
The Bad . . . While we can spend a significant amount of time and energy debating
the statistics and shifting numbers around to prove/disprove any position, it
is clear that Wisconsin's
economic situation is murky at best. It is hard to argue that we are better off
because of so called reforms like Act 10 and right to work. These types of
legislation have done little to improve the economic status of most citizens.
We also are seeing a significant number of groups' economic outlook decline or
stay negative under this administration. Combine this with the turmoil and
divisiveness of the past 4 years and we can see that economic data can only go
so far in defining our state's success and achievement.
The news isn’t nearly as good as one University of Wisconsin
professor seems to believe.
jsonline.com|By Marc Levine
The Ugly . . . Madison is still dealing with the violent death of Tony Robinson
and the aftermath of the decision not to charge Officer Kenny.
Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne announced
Tuesday that Madison
police Officer Matt Kenny would not be charged in the fatal shooting of
19-year-old Tony Robinson Jr.
wthr.com
While we attempt to come
to grips with what this means for our community we are faced with many
reminders of the scope of our challenges. Whether on a national level. . .
US' second review before UN Human Rights Council dominated
by criticism over police violence against black men
america.aljazeera.com
Or on a historical one. .
.
Today marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of a massive police
operation in Philadelphia
that culminated in the helicopter bombing of the headquarters of a...
m.democracynow.org
It is clear that we have a
lot of work to do as we attempt to create a society where safety and justice
are balanced in an equitable manner. Every situation is different and based on
individual circumstances, yet at the same time the cumulative effect is
devastating for our society. It's time for us to have a discussion that moves
us forward, recognizing the past injustices (including that done to other
groups in our society) while seeking to lift us towards a fair and socially
just system.
To argue against the cop in the Tony Robinson shooting -
unless you think DA Ismael Ozanne just made everything up - one must argue that
cops don't have a...
onmilwaukee.com
