Imagine a Secretary of Education for America’s Schools

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When the President of the United States appoints a Secretary of Education who openly, vocally, and financially works to destroy the public’s schools, we can sigh and hope to outlive her time in office, giving what support we can to the teachers we know and the schools that serve our communities.  Or we can declare the experiment in democratic education over (as some have already done), and shed tears for what this generation of children will miss and what our country will lack when their schools are closed and they, and their friends, are outsourced to private “education management companies” called “charter schools.”

Or, we can heed Maxine Greene’s admonition to foster in each other a social imagination – the imagination to envision a more just society, a creative public spirit, and a collective sense of urgency to make democracy work for everyone.  For Greene, an esteemed professor at Teachers College and a tireless advocate for educating through the creative arts, a social imagination was not idle musing or wishing what might have been.  An informed social imagination leads to action for justice.

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I invited readers to imagine along with me what it would mean if we had a Secretary of Education for America’s children:  a cabinet member who understands the gravity of being the voice of the children –all our children – at the highest levels of government, and who acts accordingly.   Now we need to imagine what a Secretary of Education would do in her first months in office if she understood, cared about, and used her power to advocate for the public’s schools.

Again, cue up John Lennon’s “Imagine” or maybe “What a WonderfulWorld.”  And let’s imagine together…..

Imagine a Secretary of Education who understands that an investment in America’s infrastructure absolutely must include making sure that every public school, in every neighborhood, is built as an engaging learning environment and an asset to its community. That secretary would call in the Secretary of Labor to remind him that building good schools, and renovating older ones, is a great for job creation – for the workers immediately employed and for economies that that powerful learning will generate in the schools they build.  Our imagined Secretary would enlist the Secretary of Health and Human Services and colleagues NIH and the CDC and EPA for their expertise in assuring the building materials are built with children’s health in mind, safety from toxic chemicals, with clean air and water a given.  She’d of course call on the expertise of the Department of Energy and the professional organizations of school architects for specs on energy efficiency and renewable systems throughout, to model for the children a reverence for nature’s resources as well as to reduce expenses.

Imagine a Secretary of Education who tells the Congress and the President and infrastructure designers to get ready to build, but not until she has consulted with teachers and parents about what they want their school buildings to be.  Lively learning centers, yes.    Abundantly equipped, yes – even in the poorest neighborhoods, the most remote rural counties.    And inviting to all – a place where teachers want to teach, children are excited to spend their days, parents and neighbors know they are welcome to visit and volunteer.   Well acquainted with the amenities in private schools, the Secretary will already know that teachers need offices and conference rooms for study and lesson prep and collaborating across disciplines; teachers won’t have to ask for those basics. But teachers will want to weigh in on things this particular Secretary of Education may not think of – a community clinic with mental health services as well as basic family medicine, spaces for parents to meet, a community liaison who knows well the families’ languages, needs, assets and network of referral services throughout the community.

Imagine a Secretary of Education who understands that learning involves all the senses.   She might take a literal walk in the park to confer with the National Park Service, the US Forest Service, the Secretary of the Interior as well as the leaders of Nature Conservancy and various urban park systems to ask how they could work together to make sure every American child has places to play outside. She would have read Last Child in the Woods on the plane in from Michigan and arrived fired up to get America’s kids outdoors, exploring, discovering, skinning their knees and – the radical part – getting to play!

I’m beginning to like this imagined Secretary of Education.  Though I doubt she’ll materialize on her own. It will take a village – a very large and energized village and its teachers – to “raise” her.  In a future post, we’ll imagine what she might learn from America’s teachers – if she did decide to become the Secretary of Education for all of America’s children and all of the public’s schools.

Add your imaginings to mind in the Comments section here:

Imagine a Secretary of Education for America's Children

When President Jimmy Carter worked with Congress to create the Department of Education as a cabinet-level division of the federal government, he – along with parents and educators – envisioned the Secretary of Education as the advocate for the nation’s children and their education.  I’ve written about the dangers of concentrating too much power in one office, of so centralizing authority that it could easily be abused.  In the appointment of Betsy DeVos, a self-proclaimed opponent of public education, my cautions seem warranted as Ms. DeVos showed in her confirmation hearing little interest in and even less knowledge about the duties of her office to support the nation’s schools.   Her chilly and, frankly, smug interactions with the senators questioning her, and her fierce devotion to dismantling our public schools to replace them with a “market” of commercial and religious schools, means the struggle to protect, enhance and support our children’s schools will take our keenest vigilance, our collective advocacy, and our best ideas.

And that got me to thinking:  what if…  What if the Secretary of Education understood the gravity of the position:  “I am the face of the nation’s children in every meeting of the president’s Cabinet.  I am the voice of America’s children and the first and strongest advocate for their well-being and their education.”  I started wondering what such a person, stepping into the role in a spirit of humility and deep obligation to our children, would do.

Feel free to cue up John Lennon’s “Imagine” as you imagine along with me:

Imagine a Secretary of Education who rushes to meet with the Secretary of Health and Human Services, saying “You and I have a job to do.   Children learn best when they are healthy.  I need you to work with me to make sure every child in America has good, affordable health insurance and a doctor and well-staffed clinic nearby.”

Imagine a Secretary of Education who insists on a meeting with the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, reminding him that children learn best when they and their family have a safe place to live.  “Together,” she would say, “we need to bring in mayors, school leaders, builders, bankers, and members of Congress to come up with -- and fund and stay on top of --  creative solutions to the need for affordable housing all across the country.”

Imagine a Secretary of Education who understands what it means to work hard and still struggle to support a family, who knows that holding two jobs and still making minimum wage leaves little time to read to your kids.  Imagine that Secretary of Education summoning the Secretary of Labor to get together over coffee to hammer out a plan for federal legislation to guarantee a fair and living wage – with benefits – for America’s workers.   If such a plan needs input about tax laws, she would invite the Secretary of the Treasury to join them.  If the president is serious about a huge federal infrastructure investment, bring in the financial advisers to make sure all the jobs created pay fair wages, with benefits.

Imagine a Secretary of Education who pleads with the Attorney General:  “Look, I know your record on civil rights is not stellar, but this is your chance to correct that legacy. American kids are counting on me to make sure they are all treated fairly, whether at home or at school or in their communities.  I need you to help make sure no one discriminates against a child because of his race, her religion, their gender or culture or country of origin.  Jeff, you can do this – and without you, I can’t be sure we can get all these kids through school.”

Imagine a Secretary of Education who knows that little minds have trouble learning when the children are afraid.  She would march over to the Homeland Security building and barge in on the Secretary’s border enforcement budget meeting:  “If kids think they might be picked up by ICE, or that their parents may disappear while they are at school, they can’t concentrate on their lessons.  You know that rounding up immigrants violates our cherished due process protections and just makes people in our country and abroad cynical about America’s commitment to the rule of law. Work with me here. We can come up with creative ways to protect families – and it will take both of us to convince Jeff Sessions and the loudest anti-immigrant supporters of the President.  But an education is a human right. We’re Cabinet members! We can do this!”

Imagine a Secretary of Education who can’t bear the thought of hungry children, children whose neighborhoods may be “food deserts” without healthy grocery stores or farmers’ markets, children eating un-nutritious fast foods that are cheaper than vegetables. That Secretary of Education would call on the Secretary of Agriculture to collaborate in ways that benefit farmers, children and healthy grocery stores.   

She’s the same Secretary who would venture to the Pentagon to enlist the Secretary of Defense in removing the military’s access to students’ personal social media information and school records and instead using the power of his office to advocate for publicly-funded higher education so that poor youth don’t have to see fighting in wars as their only path to a skill and an education.

A sign in my office urges “Imagine the Possibilities.”  Yes, let’s do! Let’s imagine what would be possible for America’s children and their education if a Secretary of Education assumed that office in the spirit of humility and obligation that being the voice of America’s children requires.  We believe all children can learn.  Imagine for a minute that all adults – including those in high office – can too. 

Don't Wait to Read "Wait for Me" by Caroline Leech!

Wonderful news for young adult readers:

We no longer have to wait to read Scottish author Caroline Leech's new book "Wait for Me"!  It hit the bookshelves yesterday and I'm already captivated by the story, the characters and Leech's vivid descriptions of life on a farm in Scotland in 1945 where the shortage of farm hands (the sons are of course off to war) is shockingly solved by assigning German prisoners of war to work in their place.

We won't easily forget our first meeting of the enemy prisoner the British army truck brings to Lorna's father's farm:

As Lorna began to argue, a prisoner -- had the sergeant called him "Vogel"? -- jumped down from the truck, stumbling as he landed, his back to them.  He quickly righted his balance. Tall and skinny, his dark uniform didn't fit him. The pants were baggy and too short, and the jacket swamped his gaunt frame.  He  had the same haircut as the others, shaved close, and his neck was scrawny and pale. He was just a boy, and it looked as if a puff of wind would blow him away.

But then the boy turned toward them and Lorna could see a high cheekbone and strong jawline. All right, perhaps he was more a man, but still...

Then he faced them full on, and Lorna's irritation was instantly extinguished, her shock catching in her throat.  

Half the boy's face was gone.  No, that wasn't quite right. His face was there, but .....

Praised by her peer authors as "Compelling, moving and beautifully written....rich with history, conflict and tension," and "A delicately written love story with a gorgeously evoked setting, an intrepid heroine, and a knee-weakening romance. Not to be missed."

I loved hearing Caroline Leech share with the teachers in our Writing and the Arts seminar how she came to write this story, in this time period, with these characters.  She has generously shared with the students in my Adolescent Literature class the challenge and mystery and fun of writing first lines.

(Should I tell you that the first line of "Wait for Me" is Lorna Anderson was ankle deep in muck and milk.  Yes, you want to keep reading!

The only thing better than reading her writing is to hear Caroline Leech read in her lilting Scottish voice (I actually asked her to repeat something once so I could hear those vowels again!)

If you're lucky enough to be in Houston next week, you can hear that memorable Scottish voice for yourself  on February 7 when Caroline Leech reads from Wait for Me and talks about her writing at Brazos Bookstore.  

Congratulations, Caroline, and to all the young adult readers about to discover what happens when the stalwart Scots meet the German enemy -- at home. 

Ten-year-olds tackle ‘The Lie’ of demeaning stereotypes in video

Video source:  Washington Post

Albert Schweitzer (I believe it was in the "Teaching of Reverence for Life") wrote that we do harm to children -- and to our world -- when we encourage them to "grow out of" their natural early idealism.  When I circulated this video made by children speaking up against hate, Pansy Gee, recently retired teacher of 10-year-olds, sent this spontaneously eloquent and hopeful response:

I am pleasantly not surprised by the kids' reactions.  For the most part, kids are open- minded, blind to skin color, tolerant, and much more loving of their fellow man than adults.     The indignant reactions of children, when confronted with issues of prejudice or stereotypes is the one of the truest forms of social justice and  hope for the future.  It is when the adults in their lives deem that children are "old enough" to be "taught" about the "real world" that they begin to conform to their parents' world.  It is why I chose most of the books I did.  I wanted to open those lines of communication.  Sometimes I was not well liked by the parents. 

Reading those books about the prejudices of post-civil war times in Mildred Taylor's Friendship, the way the Okies were treated in California as depicted in the Cobblestone Magazine, or issues of personal freedom in The Giver and the discussions that ensued are what I miss about the classroom.  I am not just another adult voice that perhaps the kids would listen to.  I hope I am encouraging open minds, blindness to skin color, tolerance and love (or at least respect) for all. If children learned to read, write and talk skillfully and understand that we don't all have to agree on everything, their community, our world would be a bit more sane.  I hope teachers see the importance of reading REAL texts about REAL issues and give the boys and girls the opportunity to not just know the material, but to wrestle with it.  It's good to let them think through and struggle with the problems of their world. Teachers should give them chances to form opinions and to stand on the knowledge they're learning as support. Every teacher should have a classroom community where ideas are encouraged and can be exchanged safely, where minds can change more than once and no matter what-- as a class we care about each other! 

BORDERS:  WALLS OR BRIDGES?

TEACHING THE US-MEXICO BORDER, Part 5

Into the Beautiful North: Nayeli’s Magnificent Border Story

The Jaguar’s Children, the brilliantly written novel by John Vaillant, tells of the harrowing journey of two young men who, for every different reasons, put their lives in the hands (and sealed up water tanker truck) of ruthless coyotes to make their way from Oaxaca and Mexico DF to “the North.”  Hector’s mother wants him to stay, but his father urges him to go –for reasons hidden in the father’s past and hoped for in the son’s future. César is on the run for a more urgent reason.  Their suspenseful saga calls forth the powers of the ancient symbol of the jaguar, sees strange new claims on their people’s life source: corn, and holds out the promise of a bright new future for smart young men who made it to university.   

Theirs is a tale of men, strong and able and intelligent and educated young men, leaving for El Norte.  Into the Beautiful North shows what remains of life – of family life and community life --in the villages where all the men – all but the very oldest – have left to cross the border in the collapse of their local economy.  Into the Beautiful North, by the poet, novelist and journalist Luis Alberto Urrea, is a laugh-out-loud picaresque novel about one such village, the absence of men, and a young woman who decides to do something about it. 

Nayeli, a 19-year-old former high school soccer star and server at La Mano Caída, “The Fallen Hand” taco stand.  She despairs that her father has gone north to “Los Yunaites,” as have all the eligible young men of her generation. Her village, Tres Camarones (Three Shrimp), is dying and she is dying of boredom from watching the town’s only movie, The Magnificent Seven.

The movie inspires her quixotic quest:  she will go to the North to round up her own “magnificent seven” men to move back to re-build, and re-populate, her village.  And she’ll find and bring home her father, who years ago quit coming back. 

The novel could be paired with Huckleberry Finn in their journey motif (his escape on a river, hers a river crossing), their picaresque and episodic structure, and the merging of social commentary into the adventures and mishaps and unforgettable people they meet at each new place.  Just as Huck Finn sees right through the piety of the “respectable” people, Nayeli and her side-kicks (yes, some colorful friends come along) learn that the most generous people are the family they encounter living on the Tijuana garbage dumps.   The book is full of contemporary cultural references high school students will recognize (Kanye West, Sabado Gigante, internet).  And, yes, political realities:  the Border Patrol and, by inference, NAFTA:  “Twenty pesos! You couldn’t even afford corn tortillas anymore on twenty pesos.  The Americans were buying up all the maize for fuel and none of the rancheros could afford to use it for food.”

Into the Beautiful North gives voice and unforgettable personality to the ones “left behind” in Mexico and, even more important, in delightfully painful and funny and startling clarity, the story holds a mirror up to taken-for-granted luxuries (electricity, elevators, “small cartons with mushrooms piled inside like snowballs and vegetable bins [that] periodically sang ‘Singin’ in the Rain’” when the sprinklers sprayed the produce”).  And it holds a mirror up to the absurdities that a single line of political geography can make in who has and who needs, who leaves and who stays.  The book provides great fun (and no small amount of poignancy) when Nayeli declares, “We didn’t come here to get boyfriends! We’re on a mission! …. We came to save Tres Camarones!”

My Latest Talk: Beyond Standardized Schools

I was honored to speak to the parents, educators and activists who attended the Community Voices for Public Education (CVPE) event in November.  I don't always use slides in my talks but I really like these images, some from our own projects with kids at Rice as well as some that inspire or motivate me.  After so many years of writing about how standardization has harmed our schools and compromised our children's opportunities to learn, I wanted to share with this audience examples of culturally rich, academically engaging learning.

You can view the entire PowerPoint here:  Beyond Standardization: Reclaiming our Abundant Funds of Knowledge to Create Equitable, Educational Schools for Our Children.