Schools Cannot Do it Alone

Jamie Vollmer, author of Schools Cannot Do it Alone, reinforced to attendees what we know all too well: that local control of our public schools, and thus our democracy, is under attack.

Jamie wondered, in reference to the pending No Child Left Behind waivers, "How did the federal government, which pays less than 10 percent of school funding, get in the position to give us a pass on anything?" Jamie shared five of 20 trends identified in his book that are negatively impacting public education:

1. The aging of our state (and nation) is creating a situation in which public education is competing at the polls with other interests. Public education was created for two reasons. Individual benefit where the child and his or her family benefits. But we created public schools for a second reason: the public benefit. We have to help remind our communities of this second reason for public education. We'll have lower crime, economic development and improved property values if we have quality public schools. Almost every quality of life indicator in a community is tied to the quality of its public schools.
   
2. The media tends to be negative about public education. The media can focus on the negative because it sells; people consume negative media. The media isn't going to change its focus until human nature changes.
   
3. The number of student rights have expanded, which creates a focus on making decisions in order to protect against being sued.
4. People are used to getting things exactly how they want, customized to their needs. This translates to their expectations of their experience with public schools.
   
5. Finally, where schools used to be designed to melt our backgrounds, many people are now pulling away from "melting." All over, there are people who don't want their children to be educated with "them." And Jamie says there are all kinds of "them." Religious, ethnic, racial, economic, political.
   

Jamie shared a story of his first job on a factory floor, where he made twice the minimum wage, and no one asked him if he had a high school diploma. At that time, 77 percent of jobs available were for unskilled or semi-skilled workers. Not everyone needed a quality education to obtain gainful employment, so we didn't give it to everyone. But those times are gone. Now, just 13 percent of available jobs are for unskilled or semi-skilled workers, and in five years that figure will be reduced to just 6 percent of available jobs. Students today need a quality education!

Jamie acknowledged that making this adjustment in our schools isn't easy. But he offered, that to get from A to B, you have to go through C—the community. We can't move our public schools forward without public support. But that's not easy to do, because our communities don't understand what goes on in our schools. Jamie shared his list of what's expected in our public schools. As we increase understanding, we increase trust. In order to transform our schools to meet these new expectations, we must change the culture of our community and build understanding of the need for change. Jamie identified five S's to creating change:

• Stop - stop bad mouthing one another and your schools in public.
• Shift - shift your attention from the negative to the positive.
  
• Share - share something positive that's going on in schools with family, friends and neighbors.
  
• Sustain - sustain the effort. Keep at it every day.
  
• Start - start now!

Thanks to SET SEG School Insurance Specialists for sponsoring this session.