Welcome to Renew Our Schools
Harold Kwalwasser, October 25, 2011Our goal is simple: Every one of us needs to help renew American public education. But that has to mean more than simply voting for someone who promises to “make our schools better.”
“Renewing Our Schools” aspires to be the place where you come to find out what it will take to breathe new life into America’s schools – and how you can help.
This website will offer ideas and a vision of what our schools can become, and – equally importantly – strategies about how to bring others to embrace the same vision.
Some of the ideas will come from us, but the goal is to start conversations focused on concrete solutions to specific problems where the ideas, suggestions, and observations come from all members of the education community. There are extraordinary numbers of educators, parents, and other concerned citizens who have innovative solutions and great perspective that should be shared. What they need is a place that will amplify their voice in a way that counts.
That is why we are going to post commentary regularly that invites you to respond. Sometimes it will be simply an invitation to comment, and at other times it will be to answer specific questions that we can collect and then share as your collective wisdom about important education issues.
We therefore want you to stay connected. Bookmark our RSS Feed to stay on top of the discussion, or better yet, subscribe to the periodic emails we’ll publish with important news, intriguing ideas, and upcoming events. To do that, simply enter your name and email address on our home page under “Stay connected with Renewal” at the top of the right column. Of course, your information is confidential and will only be used by us. We think you will consistently find our e-news informative, fair-minded, and on point.
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We recognize there are many education sites, but we think you will continue to come to this one because of our philosophy:
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 pass legislation that makes a difference. Showing up is important, advocating for something that will move the needle is even better.
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.
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.
About the editor
Harold Kwalwasser served as General Counsel of the Los Angeles Unified School District, America’s second largest. He had previously been a staff member in the United State Congress and the California State Senate, as well as a political consultant and lawyer whose practice required an extensive knowledge of management theory and practice. After leaving his job as General Counsel, he became a consultant in Washington, DC, where he has advised clients on education policy matters.
In 2008, he began work on Renewal, Remaking America’s Schools for the 21st Century, which will be published by Rowman and Littlefield in the winter of 2011-12. It reflects what he learned during his time in Los Angeles and an extensive six month road trip in 2009 investigating 40 high performing and transforming public, private, parochial, and charter schools across 16 states.