Our goal is simple: Every one of us needs to help save American public education. But that has to mean more than simply voting for someone who promises to “make our schools better.”
So, we aspire to be the place where you come to find out what it will take to renew America’s schools. And, we want to be the site where you can learn how you can help.
In other words, we want you to turn to us to for a vision of what our schools can become, and – equally importantly – for strategies about how to bring others to embrace the same vision.
The job of saving our schools cannot be outsourced. The only way it will work is if people who put our children’s future first go to meetings, support good school board members, and demand that state and federal legislators support what makes a difference. Showing up is important, advocating for something that will move the needle is even better.
We intend to help you become smarter about education by assembling information about what works and and sharing it with you. We do not advocate on behalf of any group. We have only one agenda: preparing our kids for college or careers and for life.
We believe we share the feeling of most Americans: the intellectual and social and emotional development of students is foremost. First, we get that right and then we can worry about everyone else’s concerns.
Our schools need systemic change. We used to do mass production education – one curriculum, taught one way, by one teacher, in one classroom. That turned out to be neither flexible nor innovative enough to educate every child well. We need something different – and that requires changes from how we train teachers, to how we distribute decision-making among the classroom, the school and the central office, to how we use computers. We want you to have perspective about how all the parts fit together.
Some of the information will come from our editorial staff, and some of it will come from readers, who will be invited to respond to issues we pose in our posts. There is a great deal of wisdom among the 14,000 public school districts and 90,000 schools in America. We hope that America’s teachers, administrators, and political leaders will come to value this website as a place where their views can be shared and counted, and that those of you who are simply citizens will appreciate what their collective wisdom turns out to be.
We want you to stay connected. Send us a reply that will tell us to send you a notice whenever we post something new on the website. We think you will consistently find it informative, fair-minded, and on point.
We want you involved with us, because we want you involved in your schools. And we want you empowered. After that, the rest is up to you.