The School Bells are Ringing

The school bells are ringing!

Well, not quite like they were a couple generations ago, with an actual school bell tower clanging a clarion call that school was about to begin, as school children trudged ten miles through snowstorms to get there (or, as more likely in our area, ten miles of alligator-laden and bug-infested swamp). Now it's hallway bells for class changes -time to move from one part of the day to another.

Think public schools aren't important?  Catch any local paper or local newscast right about now.  News about the schools dominate.  The students and teachers are coming back!  News about exciting events, sports challenges coming up, academic accomplishments about to be spun, new staff to interview, new Kindergartners ready to start their educational journey, new facilities.  Every nook and cranny of every detail becomes something the whole community is inspired to hear about.

Communities, particularly our rural districts, focus a large part of their spirit, drive and hopes on their local schools.  The school's rhythm and cycle becomes their rhythm and cycle.  Football season, with players and cheerleaders and band and A/V Club and boosters, kick off the start of school year.  But that is just the beginning.  There is Homecoming and basketball, One Act and Literary, Future Farmers and Future Business Leaders, concerts and dances, academic and athletic awards, proms and graduation.  Public schools represent the very heart of the community strength and spirit.

Now, imagine, if you will, if instead you had a patchwork of charter schools, religion-based schools and the home schooled.  Some of these, I am sure, might be fairly good  But there would be little unity.  Many charter schools are driven not by the community or the students, but the private financial interests of those who own them. It's just the nature of unfettered capitalism - the interest is not in service, but in maximizing profits.  At a minimum, charter schools need to be regulated as heavily as public schools, if not more so, in order for them to serve the interests of the students. However, as Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos indicated in her nomination hearings, she is reluctant to regulate charter schools with the same vigor as we do public schools.

Religious schools and home schooling often have as their goal indoctrination in one faith and philosophy to the exclusion of all others.  They can do many things well, but they often fail in teaching respect for our diversity, and in developing critical thinking skills.

They are not community-centered.  That is lost.  It's just not a large part of their purpose or agenda.

We live in a nation of freedom and choices.  As vital as public schools are, people are free to make other educational choices.  But they should not do so at taxpayer expense.  That money needs to be devoted to providing and improving public education.

People tend to forget the reason public education was originally created for.  It wasn't to prepare for a specific career.  It wasn't to warehouse children while their parents worked. It was to provide a civic education, the basic critical thinking skills to become informed citizens, able to contribute to a participatory democracy.

It's much more than just voting.  It's also taking pride in and participating in your local community.

And I'd hate for us to lose that.