Passionate Impatience

Yesterday was a full and exciting day at the Save Our Schools Conference. Jonathan Kozol provided vivid examples of the disparities in our nation's schools. He compared the education of the children of the elite at:

• Exeter Academy and Andover with class sizes of 12 - 15, near his own home in Maine, to
• the education of students he has visited in Los Angeles and Oakland, California, where students are crammed 40 at a time into portables, 2/3 of the year is consumed with exams, and music, art, social studies and science are squeezed out of the day.

Kozol was with Dr. Martin Luther King when he spoke the words, "I have a dream that black and white children will sit down together at the table of brotherhood," and lamented that black and brown children are more segregated in our nation's public schools today, than at any time since 1968.

Kozol called for a "passionate impatience" with our current public education system, and an end to the systematic waste of childhood. Other speakers echoed the call, referring to the "fierce urgency of now", and the need for development of relationships among educators, community organizations, governmental organizations, parents and students as, "the problem is too complex for any organization to be working on its own."

In an afternoon panel on the topic of Arts and Social Change, I presented with:

• Dr. Mary Stone Hanley, from George Mason University, presented on the arts as tools to create a counter-narrative about the strength and knowledge and wisdom in our communities
• Morna McDermott spoke about her "Out of the Box Doll Project" and being invited to sit down with members of the US Department of Education when she delivered her political art installation earlier this week

The big consensus ideas that emerged were that 1) the arts are essential for individual development and meaning-making, strong schools and healthy communities, 2) we must move out of our silos, and recognize the need for comprehensive approaches that provide for culturally responsive and well-rounded learning experiences, and 3) that we know what works and we need to speak with a unified voice about alternatives to No Child Left Behind.

As we go into day 2 of the conference, the over 400 person assembly is cohering around central ideas of the need to move out of isolation in order to make a collective impact in reinventing a public education system that fully engages all students to their potential.

What is working in your schools and community?

What ideas and solutions would you offer as the Washington DC conversations move forward?

What next steps do you hope the Sunday Congress will name?