Public School Heartbreak

The last week of October, the New Yorker featured  a cartoon of two moms sitting, with a child in each of their laps, as they sat on a park bench. One was saying to the other, “We believe in the concept of public education.”  Like all cartoons, it is meant to be funny while revealing something honest, something most of us aren’t willing to admit even though it is completely obvious by our actions that we do indeed feel that way.

                However, I didn’t find the cartoon funny because it captures exactly how I feel. I believe in the concept of public education. I want to believe in it; I want public schools to work. Public education is a cornerstone of democracy; to create well educated citizens and voters, we need good viable public schools. Free good public schools, like good health care, good nutrition, and stable shelter, I believe, is a human right.

                Yet with public education in its current state, I can’t help but want to keep my son as far away as possible from it. In a February 2009 New York Times Op-Ed, Nicholas Kristof called our public education our greatest national shame.  I think he’s right. The emphasis in reading and math simply to meet No Child Left Behind testing demands, and the lack of emphasis on the arts, music, science, and individual creativity is just the least of it. I shudder at the competitive nature, that to get into the desired schools requires either an IQ test taken by a four year old or luck in a lottery, or, as my brother did in Portland, moving to the desired school’s neighborhood when his son failed to win the lottery. I hate that when one child gets into a good school, it displaces another student, potentially into a school that can’t afford to meet his/her needs. I hate that as parents we cannot take for granted that our children will get the education that will nurture their intellectual and creative selves at the public school down the street.

                I have taught University Composition and Literature classes. I know first-hand how ill prepared our students are for college. I used to ask my Freshman writing classes to write a one page free write response to the editorial in the morning’s paper; in response I got blank stares and dilated pupils as anxiety attacks kicked in, even as I remember my eighth grade English teacher Mrs. Larkin asking the same thing of me. I taught Developmental (aka remedial) English classes where I asked students to identify the noun, verb and adjective in the sentence – a skill that is generally taught in the third grade – and was appalled (but sadly, not that surprised) that my students had no idea what I was talking about.No doubt about it: the public schools are failing in a myriad of ways.

                My frustration and concern with our public education was exacerbated In November by New York City’s Mayor Bloomberg’s choice of Chancellor Cathleen Black.  I heard the news on NPR as I drove my two year old son home from the park.  I walked in the house holding my son’s hand but fuming and ranting. My husband suggested I take a deep breath, that maybe I was knee-jerk reacting.

                I can’t say this comment went over well with me.

                My husband generally tries to see the positive in things. He suggests, that maybe I haven’t considered this from all angles.

                I can’t say this comment went over well with me either.

                I explain that Cathleen Black is the chairwoman of Hearst magazines. She hasn’t been anywhere near the public schools not just recently but ever. My husband suggests that in such positions, much like the President, sometimes the skill isn’t so much in having the actual knowledge of what you are supposed to be the expert of, but the ability to have the best and most knowledgeable consultants and experts to advise you on what you need to know. He suggests that those who come from business know this.

                Just then, the story comes on the NPR evening news playing in the house. My husband calmly walks over to the stereo and turns up the volume. Cathleen Black is asking parents and teachers for patience and compassion as she gets up to speed on the issues facing public education.

                “I’m sorry,” I hollered at my husband, “but that comment doesn’t exactly boost my confidence in the woman!”

                “I have to agree you with there.” He said.

                That night I went to bed and thought of how when I was younger I wanted to teach college because of how much I loved my college classes. I thought of how when I was pregnant and found out I was having a boy, I immediately started planning his high school and Liberal Arts college education, that I wanted him to have art classes, world history classes, Women’s Studies classes. I wanted him to have classes that challenged him and taught him how to think. I thought of how while traveling abroad we met other parents from other countries and talked a lot about what we wanted for our children’s education. I realized then that the US is not the only one struggling with finding a system that works and that can possibly meet the needs of all its students.  I realized that my heartbreak over the public schools and Bloomberg’s choice comes from the American belief I was raised with: we are the wealthiest nation on the planet; we can have it all, but we have a responsibility to set an example because people look up to us. With the current emphasis on scores in education, this may be what influenced Bloomberg’s choice. He wanted someone to manage the schools like a business; raise scores, cut losses, make the schools look good on paper and in charts.

                But the public education I want – and the parents I talk to want - prioritizes students. It sees our children as what they are: children. Not a potential score that influences funding.