Change in Education

American education carries with it the most ambitious agenda in the world. To educate everyone, to provide opportunity for a meritocratic society...these ideas are grounded in our national values but become difficult to manage at local levels. To quote John Dewey, "To find out what one is fitted to do, and to secure an opportunity to do it, is the key to happiness." Seeing that opportunity secured equally for all, that takes time. And preventing social imbalance sometimes means progressing more slowly as an institution.

It is because we must cater to all that education progresses so slowly. Public schools work with every student to develop the entire person. These student have countless differences and experiences along with countless motivations and goals. To focus on one type of student or one educational aim would be to compromise another. Because we believe in education of the masses all students must be able to succeed, all paths must be kept open.

Magnet and charter schools have grown in popularity in part because they are more efficient at meeting student needs. They create populations that are more homogeneous and are therefore able to streamline curriculum, materials, and staff to meet student needs. In some cases these schools have compromised the spectrum of learning somewhat to more directly match student interest. Public schools,

Add to this the dichotomy between progressives and conservatives. Is education a job training program, or the cultivation of cultural literacy? Such debate, and our democratic forum to do so, keeps education from progressing quickly. Yet it does ensure that public education will never wander too far from the intent of the public