My Dad used to say there were three kinds of people; the realist, the pessimist and the optimist. Picture a Christmas morning; a child creeps down the stairs to discover a big wrapped package under the tree. With gusto, the child shreds off the wrapping paper and tears open the box to discover - horse manure! The realist child would respond, "Manure. Well, that will help grow a garden in the Spring." The pessimist would throw up their hands and holler, "All I ever get for Christmas is crap!" The optimist would just jump in the box and start digging, exclaiming, "There's bound to be a pony in here somewhere!"
I am an optimist. I have been contemplating this quote from the great Mark Twain: "We believe that out of the public schools grows the greatness of a nation." It seems there is a lot of derisive talk about the public education system and how it is failing in our country. But what if it is our country that is failing our schools? What if, just for a moment, we stop looking with a jaundiced eye at “the problem with public education”*, and take some time to look at the successes.
Last year in America, 55.5 million children attended a public school in America (U.S. Census, 2011). Those students were gifted free instruction in fully equiped facilities that provided curriculum, teachers, furniture, educational materials, food, water, and other amenities. Many of the students received clothing, counseling and medical services. Students in America are privy to education, nourishment, protection, and nurturing that children in other nations have no access to. In a report dated 10/11 by UNICEF, there are more than 130 million school age children who are growing up in the developing world without access to basic education. We citizens of the United States can count ourselves among the fortunate; our children have a place to go on weekdays where they can be out of the elements, fed and provided for. Oh, and they get to learn, too!
*Google the phrase and get 497,000,000 responses
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