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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 91制片鈥檚 2016 National Conference on Education in Phoenix, Ariz.

David Berliner, author of 50 Myths & Lies That Threaten America鈥檚 Public Schools, has said, 鈥淲hat made America great in the 20th century was the creation of public schools in the 19th century.鈥� Some have called this nation鈥檚 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鈥檚 not impossible. As a nation, we鈥檝e faced even tougher challenges. However, as Steve Farkas states in 鈥�A Maze of Mistrust鈥� (School Administrator, February 2016): 鈥淭here are dispositions and habits of mind and behaviors among leaders and citizens that will undermine efforts to bridge the gap between them.鈥�

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鈥檝e seen how some politicians play to people鈥檚 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鈥檛 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鈥檚 about community and being important to one another. It鈥檚 about capitalizing on what truly makes the U.S.A. 鈥渧illage鈥� the hope for our world. It鈥檚 about our children.

We can restore confidence in public education the way we first built it 鈥� one community at a time. But first we must engage in authentic conversations to articulate and commit to a shared and inclusive vision or 鈥渄esired state.鈥� We鈥檒l need to honestly assess where we are in terms of this desired state. We鈥檒l need to decide and agree upon acceptable evidence that we are on the right track. Eventually, we鈥檒l 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鈥檚 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鈥檚 unfavorable outlook on public education in general, while expressing positive feelings about the respondents鈥� local schools. The same is said about politicians: We like our person but no one else鈥檚.

I wonder about the civic health of our communities. You are probably familiar with the slogan, 鈥淚t takes a village to raise the young.鈥� 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.