e
rich are better off with a smaller percentage of a fast-growing economy tha=
n
a larger share of an economy that=E2=80=99s barely moving." Try telling tha=
t to the
super-rich, especially when part of his assertion involves raising taxes on
anyone, an idea that I fear may lead to some serious shooting in this
country some day soon. But of course he's right here.
I'm a ridiculous optimist about the potential of independent schools,
especially as many of them espouse values and aspirations that would seem t=
o
indicate an interest in something resembling true social and economic
justice. If schools (and many have) have been doing more than giving lip
service to their commitment to "anti-bias" or "inclusive" education, global
awareness, and environmental sustainability (three "social issues" with
which schools now at least make a pretense of being somewhat comfortable),
they have begun to offer their students the chance to investigate and think
about problems that are at the heart of what's gonna rock this planet very
hard in the next couple of decades. I believe that most teachers, at least,
are sincere in their desire to have students understand the real challenges
that the world faces. In schools where this sincerity rises up through the
administration and even to the board--and such schools exist--the prospect
of turning out kids who will become activists in pursuit of ideas that will
change the world for everyone--not just the haves--is considerable.
Operationally, independent schools are limited in their capacity to be
engines of economic and social change, but many are at least picking away a=
t
this; some are doing much more. To whatever degree you see financial aid as
a mechanism of wealth redistribution (and the predominant practice of
"expensing" FA actually allows schools to quantify this more easily that th=
e
growing practice of Net Tuition Revenue Management), it takes the dollars
taken in by the school from haves--either as tuition or as eleemosynary
giving--and offers them to have-nots or have-lesses. Some schools squeeze
themselves to an amazing degree in order to bring "socioeconomic diversity"
into their communities. The gently rising--but rising all the same--rate of
pay in our schools also means that the trust-puppies and spouses of lawyers
who once appeared fairly frequently in our classrooms have now been joined
by a majority of teachers whose earned wages--sometimes supplemented by
second or seasonal jobs--are what they live on. In a nutshell, folks are
coming into our schools as students and teachers for whom the experience is
something of a financial "advance," or at least a modest downward
redistribution of institutional and customer wealth.
Of course the critique that money tied up in endowments and spent only
sparingly has some validity, although Jim Pugh has done some recent work fo=
r
NAIS (see the FSS pages) that suggests that overdependence on endowment
income has risks that must be managed.
Could independent schools do more? You bet. In many ways, the values
question lies at the heart of the potential here. I used the term
"lip-service" above, and I think there are still schools--and lots of board
members and presumptively savvy-in-a-realpolitik-kind-of-way senior
administrators for whom really and truly living and enacting their schools'
most utopian expressions of belief and purpose is seen as potentially
risking the school's ability to attract future students and future
donations.
A larger problem in this year of the Race to the Top is what I believe to b=
e
the declining influence of independent schools in the overall educational
marketplace in the U.S. As long as public education is captive to the
testing and accountability (and choice) interests, I think that much of the
very best work we do in the areas of curriculum and assessment, professiona=
l
development, and building school cultures is irrelevant to the immediate
concerns of public--and I include charter and pilot school--educators for
whom everything hangs on the results of narrowly focused tests. While the
early days of charter schools in Massachusetts, for example, saw some yeast=
y
interplay between charter educators and independent school people, those
days are gone and will probably stay that way until the pendulum swings
back, or at least in some new and unforeseen direction. We can be
models--cities upon hills, even--of how education CAN be, but if our model
ignores the testing gorilla that wanders the halls of every public school,
it will be a model whose fundamental characteristics are impossible for
public schools to emulate. And I think we can all agree that the answer is
NOT for independent schools to embrace testing; Pat's version of value-adde=
d
does not equate to the value-added modeling of teacher performance featured
in this NY Times piece this past week:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/01/education/01teacher.html?scp=3D1&sq=3Dval=
ue%20added%20teaching&st=3Dcse
Are independent schools wholeheartedly and unanimously working to change th=
e
economic framework of our society? No. But are numbers of our schools
working to educate students in a way that illustrates to them the promise o=
f
a more just world? Absolutely yes. And are many of them using their
financial aid and salary mechanisms to increase the socioeconomic range
within their communities and constituencies? Also absolutely yes.
A perfect world? No. But I think that most of us in classrooms and
administrative offices see this as a goal, and I don't think many of us are
unaware of the degree to which our schools' former and current reliance on
charitable giving and affluent customers makes us in some way beneficiaries
of a certain uncomfortable noblesse oblige. But I don't believe that our
schools are satisfied with the notion that we are only lapdogs of the rich
and powerful; I'd even say that this message has penetrated a great many
governing boards as well.
So on this Labor Day weekend I believe that there is hope and reason to loo=
k
upon the work that many of our schools are doing with pride and
satisfaction. We hold in our hands the power to do much, much more, of
course, and with all good will, we will continue to find ways of doing this
essential "more." I believe that we have that will.
With all good wishes--Peter Gow
On Sat, Sep 4, 2010 at 8:47 AM, Fred Bartels <fredbartels@gmail.com> wrote:
> First a reminder of the origins of labor day.
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_Day
>
> Now my question.
>
> If income mal-distribution is the great socio-economic problem of our day
> (1) will independent schools, which are primarily funded by the wealthy
> (2),
> be able to significantly participate in working to alleviate this problem=
?
>
>
> (1) There are certainly reasonable arguments for this case. Robert Reich
> provides a cogent summary in this piece.
> http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/03/opinion/03reich.html?_r=3D1
>
> (2) See second bullet point in this blog post by Pat Bassett.
>
> http://www.nais.org/about/article.cfm?ItemNumber=3D153436&sn.ItemNumber=
=3D4181&tn.ItemNumber=3D147271
>
> Enjoy the weekend!
>
> Fred
>
> [ For info on ISED-L see https://www.gds.org/podium/default.aspx?t=3D1288=
74]
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>
--=20
Peter Gow
Director of College Counseling and Special Programs
Beaver Country Day School
791 Hammond Street
Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts 02467
www.bcdschool.org
617-738-2755 (O)
617-738-2747 (F)
petergow3 (Skype)
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