From the desk of Lisa Bartusek, IASB Executive Director
Quotables: Words of the Week for Public Education Advocates
In recent days others have said what needs to be said far better than I could. Here’s my line up of the top “I wish I’d said that!” quotes.
On teachers and public education, from Kyle Munson, Des Moines Register, Feb. 24: “…[W]e tend to treat teachers like second-class citizens who must scrap for every dime. We should be lavishing them with resources because they foster critical thinking among the next generation of leaders who we’ll rely on to do ambitious things such as prevent nuclear war…. I believe in the sanctity of the public school classroom as an ennobling cross-section of American society. If we erode that space in favor of funneling more and more kids into separate streams from the time they’re in kindergarten, what does that bode for our state governments and politics in general when all these students have to try to negotiate and empathize with each other as adults?”
On leadership, from Chris Coffelt, superintendent, Central Decatur Community Schools, as featured in Education Week, “Know and nurture your culture. Clarify core values, beliefs, and behaviors, creating opportunities that give people time to invest in and contribute to the collective identity and purpose of the system.” Congratulations Chris for being named a 2017 Education Week Leader to Learn From.
On the quality of public schools today, from my friend Patte Barth of NSBA’s Center for Public Education, Feb. 10 in the Huffington Post: “[T]he ubiquitous assertion that public schools are failing sets our collective teeth on edge…. By many measures, public schools are performing better than they ever have… Clearly, we have a lot more work to do. But perpetuating the notion that public schools are failing masks the real gains public schools have made. Worse, it sends a discouraging message to the hard-working educators who are making children’s lives better every day.”
Best wishes,
Lisa Bartusek
Executive Director