Public Schools = Great Nation

I leave myself notes here and there about what the next blog might be about. There are too many now. I seem to have a mini-log jam.

Next week is National 4-H week. I could write about how 4-H is a great program for developing young leaders and how we are fortunate to have a strong 4-H network here. I could point out how I was involved in 4-H for 10 years or more and how I credit the public speaking experience in 4-H to first making me comfortable in front of a crowd.

Next week is National School Lunch week. I could write about how important the school lunch program is to so many of our children. Let’s not forget that is also breakfast. I could write about what great nutritional quality and variety is found in the school lunch program and what a great bargain it is, even for those who pay full price.

October is Parent Involvement Month. I could write about the importance of parent involvement to a child’s success in school. How parents are a child’s first teacher. I could write about the many ways parents can be involved that are helpful. I could also tell some crazy stories about parent involvement gone bad.

But, since NBC put up a tent last week and sponsored a whole series of programs on Education Nation and since all the other news networks seemed to focus on public education last week, it looks like I better stick to the bread and butter.

What launched all of the attention to public education was the release of a new documentary entitled “Waiting for Superman”. I haven’t seen the film but I understand it documents what is viewed as the decline in public schools in the United States and highlights some unique schools that are making a difference.

Horace Mann said, “The public school is the greatest discovery made by man.” Now old Horace grew up at a time when education was made available only to those with the means. Poor children weren’t given opportunities to learn to read and write and understand numbers. Many children wondered what it was that happened in that big building they passed as they walked to work.

The young United States uniquely developed the idea of the public school. It was always deemed the responsibility of the local community, town or borough to provide for their children’s education. There was a time where finishing the 8th grade was good enough to function well in society.

The reach of the public school evolved through the first half of the 1900s. Soon every child had the opportunity to go to high school. There they separated the wheat from the chaff. The really smart ones with resources prepared for college. Of the others, the girls were prepared for home arts – cooking and sewing. The boys were given a strong dose of industrial arts and shop classes.

The history of the public school is a history of America becoming a great nation and it’s too long of a story to finish in one sitting. I’ll write more. Maybe I’ll tell more of the integration of our schools, the impact of the space race and factors that led us to where we are today.