Restoring Hope in Public Education

A Life’s work In Question

I have been struggling… a lot. I have been struggling with promoting innovation in rigid structure of a seven period day. I have wondered if we can be the agents of change we want to be. Public education is in crisis- there is a movement of vouchers, private schools, home schools, etc. People are looking for other agencies to do it better. We have businessmen making policy for education. Funding is decreasing, class sizes are getting bigger… I WAS on the brink of losing hope.
I won’t venture to speak for each of you but I found myself lost and without purpose. Is it all worth it? What am I missing?
I have come to realize that one of the greatest assets of our nation is a free and appropriate public education. I know and believe this. I don’t like what it has become. I don’t like the hideous attempts at improvement that push us towards standardization. I don’t like that what we teach and that the seven period day we teach it in hasn’t changed in 50 years. But I am determined to stay the course and fight for the change, to be the voice for what the founders of public education meant for it to be. I can’t fail our future. We cannot allow our life’s work to go down without fighting like hell. The eyes of former students and courageous teachers speak to my soul. It’s worth it, alright. They are worth it. I’m in… are you?