Education: It's not me, it's us.

When I was younger, fresh out of college, I felt like I cared about big things. Big things like elections, taxes, wars... these things brought me energy and life whenever I debated them. They pushed me into politics and gave me an awesome career working in the Senate for a short while (almost six years, not nearly long enough). And I loved it. I loved issues I didn't quite understand. Issues that mattered but maybe not quite as personally as others.

And then I became a teacher.

At the age of 30 I decided it was a good idea to go back to school and learn about urban education (Remember these kinds of posts? Here and here and here.). I immersed myself in the ideas of public school and social justice. I went in with one opinion and left with fifteen others. I came out a raging education fanatic. I decided that the only fight that mattered was the fight for equity and social justice in our public education.

And then I became a parent.

Fighting the education fight is a hard one, no doubt, but continuing the "fight" as a parent changed everything.  All of a sudden, education was extremely personal. All of a sudden it involved and affected my own child. All of a sudden your friends, family, and neighbors had their own deeply held opinions. And things got messy.

We decided as a family to send our son to pre-school at our neighborhood school. We live in a diverse neighborhood in Denver, one that was traditionally African-American, but has been subjected to the same gentrification that has taken hold of many of America's cities. We suffer from a racially and socioeconomically diverse and (in many ways) segregated community. On one hand our community pages are rife with the troubles of gang violence, while at the same time discussing if there should be a building code for all the new additions and builds coming into the neighborhood (gotta keep it pretty!). It sure is an interesting place to live, and I wouldn't change it. We love our home and our neighbors.

Our neighborhood school fell victim to the school rating system after years of low test scores (the Free and Reduced Lunch Rate is around 85%, so you can imagine the lack of resources many children come to school with... but don't expect a test to take note of that!). And while many parents, especially the new transplants to the neighborhood, have opted out of the school, they don't seem to opt out of having an opinion on it. Many fears and concerns have multiplied by word of mouth, and the school suffers not from bad teachers or administration (which I'm sure happened at some point), but from unfounded negativity and a serious lack of community support.

And so we decided to be a part of the change. We decided that our son, who as far as it seems is a pretty smart kiddo, would benefit from the diversity of thought and experience that this school had to offer. And we decided that this school would benefit from our family's investment in it as well. Now, I'm sure some people think this is a "We're white, so we can fix it" type of solution. But I assure you it's far from it. Yes, we're white. Yes, most of the school is not. But our investment is based on sound research, advice, experience, and common sense that tells us our kids do better when they are integrated, especially in their own communities.  Our family has been blessed with many resources, and we feel like sharing those resources with the school community can only do good things. And like I said, I believe our family is getting just as much out of this as we're putting in. We also know that a stronger neighborhood schools means a stronger community. A stronger school also means a stronger next generation. And that's how I see all of this... it's not about my kid. It's about THE KIDS. All the kids.

And if this neighborhood was good enough for us to live in, it should be good enough for us to invest in.  I don't want to pick and choose what kind of resident or neighbor I am. I want to be genuine and committed.

I heard a very powerful story recently about about an accidental experiment with integration. It is incredibly powerful, not because the story itself was spurred on by the Michael Brown shooting in Ferguson, but because this story could be true of so many places. The feelings and attitudes revealed in this story are masked as "concerns", when they are actually deep-seeded and extremely harmful, racist beliefs. It hurts to hear some of the things said and done in this story. It hurts even more to remember that this was happening in 2013. Not 1970. We, as a society, like to believe that we have come so far... but it is hard to truly see or feel that many times.  It's easy to ignore it when sitting in our comfortable suburbs or segregated communities, but it's there. And I believe public education is one of the only answers to easing racial tensions and providing justice, opportunity, and equity to those who have been dealt pretty crappy hands in life by a system built to serve one group of people the best.

Listen to that incredible story here: http://m.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/562/the-problem-we-all-live-with

I highly encourage you listen to this story. It is powerful, and sad, and for me it only further energized me in this cause. Why is this even a "cause" or a "fight"? Because people's lives and livelihoods are at stake. That's the truth. If we deny education to anyone, we are doing a disservice to our entire society. And as a Christian, I feel the inherent desire to ensure all people are treated with the same respect and love they deserve. In a country as great as ours, it's the least we can do.  I also feel like I absolutely want the best for my children, but God wants the best for all of us, not just me and mine. I haven't yet come across a part of the Bible talk about raising the smartest or most advanced kid. I haven't seen any thoughts from Jesus on individualized success. I do, however, read time and again about the development of kindness, love, compassion, selflessness and so forth. Things I know every community could benefit from. Things our entire society can benefit from.

A quote from one of the articles I posted below really verbalizes my thoughts on the individualized approach to education, the flawed ideas that all kids should be made to feel super extraordinary and that they deserve everything tailored to them. This is a mom talking about what her kids have learned from moving to a public school:

We’ve also learned that they aren’t necessarily extraordinary at all. Or, to be more precise, that if they want to be perceived as extraordinary in the public school system, they had better be extraordinary. The school will not create extraordinary for them.

What has happened in the past few decades as charter schools and private schools seem to multiply by day, is we've taken money out of our public schools - the very schools that are created to serve all our kids, not just the gifted ones, not just the healthy ones, not just the musical ones. Public schools serve the rich, the poor, the disabled, the behaviorally-challenged, the gifted, the non-English speaking, the refugee, the star athlete, the voiceless. Yet as we continue to create specialized schools and "alternatives" to the neighborhood schools, our system and communities become more and more segregated. {Yes, it's 2015, and I do believe many of our cities are segregated. We don't want to say it out loud - how unprogressive of us!? - but it's true.} Charter schools may create a sense of security while ignoring the division it can bring to many other parts of the community.

So there it is, I've spilled the beans as to why I'm a crazy advocate for our neighborhood school. Now I, by no means, want to take someone's right to choose for their own child away. Nor do I think that private and charter schools aren't doing great things. Nor do I believe our neighborhood school is as good as it can be. Every parent wants to do what's best for their own child. I know that and admire how much parents do to achieve that. I am simply framing this education stuff in a new way: what if we thought more about ALL the kids and not just our own? What if we realized that by taking kids out of the neighborhood school, we are not simply moving our child but in fact affecting an entire school built to serve the kids who need it most.  When enrollment dwindles, funding dwindles, and the school itself can struggle to remain open. The very school that accepts all students and has to provide for all students' needs. The same school that can help create a sense of community, belonging, opportunity, and so much more for so many kids and families.

What if we all supported our neighborhood schools? What if we took a risk and tried it out? What if our neighborhood school was actually representative of the neighborhood? What if we become best friends with another student's parents and they conveniently live three blocks away? What if our school community became our community? What if we learned about our neighbors' differences in an organic and genuine way so that we could understand each other and love each other? And what if ALL kids got the chance to experience a support-filled school amongst their diverse neighbors and peers?  I mean, I think it'd be a pretty cool thing for everyone.  And it all starts by someone taking a risk.

Here are a few basic articles that share some of my sentiments on this whole thing. I could point you to more academic stuff, but that might bore you.

A case for public schools: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-niles/public-schools_b_1002466.html

This article discusses public school from a parent's experienced point of view: http://www.salon.com/2015/03/05/the_case_against_private_education_why_we_put_our_kids_in_public_school/

Thanks for listening. Education is the key to ending poverty. It's the key to a prosperous society. It's the key to reducing things like violence and crime. Education is THE key. And that's why I care. And why we all should care.

PS: I also really love walking to school.