Why?
Why should we care about educating "other people's children"? Or, to put it more kindly, HOW can we care, knowing that the problems in education today are far more serious than they have ever been, and far more visible than any solutions we wish we could see hovering on the horizon.
Media works constantly to give us the big picture, and we are overwhelmed. Successes are anecdotal and highly touted. In real life we have test scores: embarrassing, worrisome. High school graduates: so many are illiterate, and proud
of it. Parents: apathetic, unable to help their own children.
Teachers. The most effective, energetic, interesting ones are called miracle workers; they don't get the support they deserve and are in danger of leaving the profession. The well-meaning majority get along from year to year as deliverers of textbook support materials. Bad teachers waste everybody's time and create ill-will, and the highly-paid veterans may be claiming "burnout" and just going through the motions. Private-sector employees are increasingly angry about teachers' job security, generous benefits, and two months of summer vacation.
Government standards: too high, unrealistic, unmeetable. Teaching to the test has replaced real teaching and the learning of essential knowledge and skills. Administrators pass along the latest top-down "cure," waste precious dollars on irrelevant training days for bored, impatient teachers, and generally play it safe.
Federal government hands down mandatory requirements without funding support, and state government throws on another level of crippling bureaucracy before shoveling it all along to local districts to "implement." The price for failure, for non-compliance? Withdrawal of existing federal money, mandatory intervention by designated experts.
And the student population! Too many, too diverse, too unprepared, too unmotivated. Some of them are too dirty, too big, mean, vulgar, sneaky, dishonest or scary. How can we teach them anything?
Expectations are too low. Eighth grade "graduation" – give me a break. Expectations are too high – reading in kindergarten! Algebra for twelve-year olds, ready or not. High school course requirements, reading lists. All those tests, that came from somewhere else, with massive teaching guides and kits that turn the art and science of teaching into one big yawn. "Teaching to the test" – you bet.
Having at least some sense of this "big picture," how can we possibly be expected to care, to hope, to help? Some of us have accepted the default conclusion that the voucher system – and by extension the end of true public education – is the inevitable option.
IN THE MEANTIME, public education is still America's best bet. Educated citizens are essential to a functioning democracy. Educated people are essential to a healthy economy – think about it. An educated population is the reverse of the coin to the bread and circuses, to the decay and despair and big mistakes that can ultimately lead to the death of a great civilization . . . even this one.
Turning our backs on public education isn't a good answer because it feels bad. It feels bad because it is tantamount to turning our backs on our country. In spite of the seemingly insurmountable problems, we care because it is better to serve the instinct to give a darn than to deny it.
What still matters most has not changed since the days of "Little House on the Prairie." It's what happens in the classroom. Teachers soon learn that they can be paralyzed by the Big Picture and set their goals right in the middle – or follow the advice of Teddy Roosevelt: "Do what you can, with what you have, where you are." This is where caring, hope, and help come in.
People, our teachers are not just asking for computers, although computers are reasonable to have. They are asking for student CHAIRS! They are teaching without enough books. [Insert additional illustrative information about teacher requests.) They are trying to save music, art, and physical education programs, or restore them in some small measure. The list of things that California schools can no longer afford is a long and sad one. More than ever, it falls on teachers to make up for what is missing and to do what they can with what they DON'T have. This is where caring, hope, and help come in.
People who care about local schools and the students who attend them, and want to help, have come together as The Desert Sands Educational Foundation, a broad-based, non-profit community organization. Our exclusive purpose is to secure and distribute contributions from foundations, corporations, community and individuals, and use those funds for the benefit of students enrolled in the Desert Sands Unified School District.
Our efforts will focus on specific needs identified by teachers. We will work hand in hand with them, and with administration, parents, the community, and contributors to make sure our vital resources are efficiently directed to maximize the positive impact of every dollar. We are committed to improving the quality of education in the District and will work tirelessly toward that goal. Will you work with us?
