rally to restore sanity, sam waterston

George Wood, a school principal, has traveled from Stewart, Ohio, to attend your Rally to Restore Sanity in Washington, D.C.

From George Wood:

“We have spent too much time blaming our schools for all that ails us. Sure schools could do better — but so could the banks, big business and Congress. Schools, our teachers, and our kids, are not responsible for the economic strains our nation feels; or for the loosening bonds that threaten the civil discourse our republic requires. In the Harlem Children’s Zone, a project that considers all of what it takes to raise a child, the charter schools are spending one-third more than the public schools in the city, and they still are struggling.

“Third, over 90 percent of our schools are good old regular public schools — not a charter or a choice, just where kids go to school. If we are serious about every child having a good school, it will not be by creating a few fancy alternative schools. It will be by improving all of our schools.

All our schools -- charters, magnets, public -- have had successes, but we do not seem to learn from them. Successful schools are places filled with good teachers who are well supported, where strong connections are built with students and families, where kids do real work, not just read textbooks or listen to lectures, and where kids are evaluated by what they can do not by what test question they can answer. “So what would a sane person, perchance a sane Congress, do to help and support our kids and schools? Thank you for listening, Jon.