Who Is Raising the Village?

President's Corner

Last month, I introduced the Communities 4 Schools concept. Throughout this year, I will explore, expand and further develop that concept, which I introduced at AASA’s 2016 National Conference on Education in Phoenix, Ariz.

David Berliner, author of 50 Myths & Lies That Threaten America’s Public Schools, has said, “What made America great in the 20th century was the creation of public schools in the 19th century.” Some have called this nation’s commitment to schooling for each child a grand experiment. If that is the case, I believe our dominance in the 20th century proved the experiment worked.

This success took inclusive vision and courageous leadership, raising the question of how the 21st century will end. That is being determined right now. What do you want for your community?

Making Communities 4 Schools a reality will not be easy, but it’s not impossible. As a nation, we’ve faced even tougher challenges. However, as Steve Farkas states in “A Maze of Mistrust” (School Administrator, February 2016): “There are dispositions and habits of mind and behaviors among leaders and citizens that will undermine efforts to bridge the gap between them.”

A key essential, trust, is at an all-time low. In this age of social media, there is a cottage industry of bloggers who thrive on personal attacks, creating deceptive narratives and falsely affixing blame.

We’ve seen how some politicians play to people’s deepest fears and anger to curry support and votes. In some places, it is risky to speak up in support of the schools and school staff. Business owners have told me of the backlash they feared if they offered public support of capital referendums. Running for the school board is a full-contact sport.

I certainly don’t have all of the answers or even know all of the questions. But, I do know that we cannot abandon the work needed to preserve our republic. We must do that work together. It’s about community and being important to one another. It’s about capitalizing on what truly makes the U.S.A. “village” the hope for our world. It’s about our children.

We can restore confidence in public education the way we first built it — one community at a time. But first we must engage in authentic conversations to articulate and commit to a shared and inclusive vision or “desired state.” We’ll need to honestly assess where we are in terms of this desired state. We’ll need to decide and agree upon acceptable evidence that we are on the right track. Eventually, we’ll need to commit ourselves to accepting a personal role in this work.

But the process begins with a Socratic-type conversation. What key questions must we address as a community? Let’s first consider these: Is education a common good or a consumer good? Who owns the schools? What are the responsibilities of ownership? What do we want for our children? What are we willing to do to make this happen for our children? What does a good school look/feel like? What should we use to gauge the quality of our schools? Does educating our children aid the growth and sustenance of our community? Can schools do it alone? Should they do it alone? This is just a start.

Every year, opinion polls report the public’s unfavorable outlook on public education in general, while expressing positive feelings about the respondents’ local schools. The same is said about politicians: We like our person but no one else’s.

I wonder about the civic health of our communities. You are probably familiar with the slogan, “It takes a village to raise the young.” I ask, who is raising the village? Who is helping the village understand its responsibilities? Who is helping hold the village accountable? Join me in the conversation on Twitter at @altonfraileyC4S or #tellyourstory.