Brazilian education theorist Paulo Freire writes about the action and
reflection praxis. Through the process of reflection and action, Freire
explains, liberation happens. I feel this accurately describes how I
have been feeling this academic year. My community in high school,
though it still exists when I return home, feels like a different life. This
distance has allowed me to begin reflecting upon my analysis and what has
influenced it. Accepting Guilford as my community now has encouraged me to act,
as I have come to care about it in a deeper way.
Guilford invited Geoffrey Canada to speak for the Bryan Series on the 10th
of February. Though Canada touched on a number of topics, what resonated with
me was when he spoke about his football coach’s influence on him growing up. Canada
explained that his coach was someone who he felt had faith in him. Reflecting
on what has modeled me most, what comes to mind are my mentors; people who took
the time to engage with me in a meaningful way.
Of course, in many ways this is a product of my privilege. I move through
the world as a white female. I can look around and see people who look like me
doing important things. Through grade school, my race probably influenced how
teachers spoke to me.
I grew up on the Upper West Side of New York and went to a public high
school that was exempt from taking the statewide exams. The school was
characterized as an alternative and progressive public school that encouraged
critical thinking. However when a group of students, community members,
teachers and education organizers came together to critic the selective
admissions policy, our administration reacted with hostility. Our
principal threatened students with suspension, threatened to call universities that
seniors had been accepted to and harassed family members. I had been in the
vice principal’s advisory group, but was asked to leave when he found out about my
involvement in organizing. It was through this experience of organizing in my
high school that I met adults who became my most influential mentors. They
challenged my analysis, supported me when our administration was particularly
hostile and encouraged me to not doubt myself.
These mentors had a deep faith in public education; something they do not
share with Geoffrey Canada. They believe public education as the potential to
be a great equalizer, however because of their intimate experience with the NYC
school system they are under no disillusions about its problems. Hearing Canada
speak this weekend reminded me of the importance of a public
education. Not once did Canada speak about his school’s curriculum. Not once
did he explain his educational pedagogy, philosophy or the importance of
critical thinking. Canada has the ‘luxury’ of being able to fire ‘bad’
teachers, but what kind of a climate is created in a school where teachers are
not unionized? Stan Druckenmiller, the chairman of Canada’s Board of Trustees
is a hedge-fund manager. Gary D. Cohn is the President and COO of investment
banking and securities firm Goldman Sachs. Have we forgotten who caused the
economic crisis of 2008? Why should these same people be trusted to run a
school?
Last September the Chicago Teachers’ Union went on strike. In the most
recent issue of Rethinking Schools an article entitled “New Teachers’ Union
Movement in the Making” described how the strike of last fall was a turning
point for union organizing. The article detailed that politicians of both parties
in Chicago are for “the marketization and privatization of public schools;
pockets of “success” valued over educational justice; teaching discounted as a
profession; compliance trumping professional responsibility; free market
competition as the arbiter of all; and test-centric, data-driven regimens that
crush student-centered quality teaching and learning.” What made the strike in
Chicago so successful was the organic community involvement the teachers had. Activists
from the Caucus of Rank-and-File Educators (CORE) intentionally reached out to
parents and community leaders, listening to what they felt issues in education
were. It was because of these relationships that the strike was larger than the
teachers union, it was about community justice. The strike last September was
also not afraid to make bold demands. They identified institutional racism as
the root of school inequality, demanded the end of the “educational apartheid”
and that the “whole child be educated, demanding more art, music, and physical
education teachers.” The need for brave, sustainable and all-encompassing
education organizing is urgent. The strike in Chicago offers many lessons.
The private sector is encroaching on public services. Water, health care,
prisons, and energy have all been privatized. Canada claims his reasoning for
not allowing his teachers to unionize is so he can fire bad ones. However, is
this rhetoric isolated from the anti-union politics in Wisconsin, Ohio, Iowa,
Indiana, Michigan, Florida and Tennessee? Laws to curb collective bargaining,
end seniority and limit tenure are popping up throughout the country. In a
country where the wealth gap is wider than ever, the role of unions as an
advocate for working people is essential. Conservative Wisconsin Governor
Scott Walker and Democrat Chicago Major Rahm Emmanuel are politically identical
when it comes to educational reforms. The conservative versus liberal discourse
does not have a place the educational movement. Like in Chicago, there needs to
be organizing against applying the free market system to children’s education
in a way that can bring communities together in a meaningful fashion. I do not
claim the public education system is perfect, but it is what we pay taxes for.

http://www.rethinkingschools.org/archive/27_02/edit272.shtml