Thanks (I think) - I've been invited because of you
Fri May 02, 2008 at 03:00:06 AM PDT
Originally I was not going to go. It is near the end of the school year. And I looked at the sponsorship and the keynote speaker and thought it really was not worth it. But then yesterday I got a personal invitation which referred to here, telling me
Your experience mobilizing interest at the grassroots through Daily Kos is an invaluable contribution to this forum.
It is a bloggers' summit on Education, lead by Strong American Schools, which upperates under the banner "ED in '08" (yeah, I know, I see "ED" and I start thinking of ads for male enhancement products).
So let me explain why at first I was not going to go, and why, under pressure from my wife, I have decided I should. And remember, because you read what I write on education, I get to thank (or blame) you!
The ED in '08 program says in is "About Us" page
Strong American Schools is a nonpartisan public awareness and advocacy effort aimed at elevating discussion amongst America's leaders about the need for education reform. Through our campaign, ED in '08, we are calling for a vigorous and thorough discussion of the issue by the candidates for president in 2008.
This campaign seeks to unite all Americans around the crucial mission of improving our public schools by elevating the discussion to a national stage -- and what better stage than a presidential election?
Now, while I certainly am an advocate of focusing more attention on education, which is why I have so often written about the education proposals of the Democratic candidates, I also am more than a little leery of the context in which this organization operates. While the Rockefellar Philanthropy Advisors as the principle financial sponsor did not raise any alarms with me, the other two did, the foundations of Bill and Melinda Gates and of Eli and Edythe Broad. Too often I have found both involved in efforts which while perhaps well-meaning seemed to operate on a presumption of they knew better and they were going to use their money and influence to drive the discussions on education in the direction they wanted.
As I read further on the"About Us" page I saw more evidence of this. Let me quote:
Our Focus
America’s students are losing out. The world is changing, jobs are evolving, and far too many students are simply not being prepared to be successful adults:
* Seventy percent of eighth graders are not proficient in reading—and most will never catch up.
* Every year, more than 1.2 million students drop out of high school.
* Compared to students in 30 industrialized countries, American 15 year olds ranked 25th in math and 21st in science. Even America's top math students rank 25th out of 30 when compared with top students across the globe.
* Many of those who do graduate are not ready for college, for the workplace and for life.
We have to act now to improve education before more American students lose out on the best jobs, hurting our economy and impacting each and every one of us.
Our Goal
We want a serious nationwide debate on education reform where every presidential candidate addresses three priorities that hold great promise for improving education:
* Agreeing on American education standards
* Providing effective teachers in every classroom
* Giving students more time and support for learning.
The campaign will not support or oppose any particular candidate for public office or any political party. Nor does it take positions on legislation.
Given the track record of Gates and Broad, I am not sure there is not at least implied support for certain kinds of legislation. And the first of their three key points seems to indicate a desire for national standards, which when combined with the idea of "effective teachers" forces one to ask whether their direction is going to be one of measuring that effectiveness by student performance on national tests - that seems the clear implication.
I also see nothing in the rhetoric about international comparisons, which as I have noted are often bogus and unnecessarily alarmist, which addresses any purpose in schooling beyond the economic, and I note the figures are about math and science, as if those should be the only or at least the primary drivers in shaping our educational policy. There is nothing about citizenship, history, music, art, poetry. And having read some of the remarks Bill Gates has previously made about education I would normally have great hesitance at any involvement in such an effort. Further, the chair of the effort is Roy Romer, the former Governor of Colorado who later was the head of the Los Angeles Unified School District, and who serves as principal spokesman for this effort.
What I though had convinced me not to participate was to see that the invited keynote speaker was Newt Gingrich, whom I do not view as a friend of public education.
The conference begins the evening of May 14, with the bulk of it taking place on the following day, a Thursday, and the penultimate day before my students sit for their mandatory state examination in Government, passing of which is required for graduation. For all those reasons I had discarded the original general invitation I had received, even though the conference was free.
And then yesterday I received the invitation to which I have previously referred. Let me quote the entire thing before I explain why I have decided to participate, albeit only in a few events to avoid interfering with my responsibility to my students.
Dear Ken,
As you may know, we serve as Chairman and Executive Director, respectively, of the ED in ’08 Campaign, a nonpartisan public awareness and action campaign aimed at making education a priority in the 2008 presidential election. Funded by a substantial contribution from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation, ED in ’08 seeks to unite Americans around the crucial mission of improving our public schools by ensuring that the nation engages in a vigorous debate on the issue in the 2008 presidential election.
As part of that effort we are hosting the ED in ‘08 Blogger Summit in Washington, DC on May 14th and 15th. This unique event will provide the opportunity for influential education and political bloggers and other thought leaders to meet in one place to discuss the most pressing issues in education and the role of education in the 2008 election. We hope that gathering together bloggers, who help to shape and inform the education debate, will shine a light on the most important aspects of the education crisis in this country.
We are pleased to invite you to participate in the Breakout Session at 3:00 pm on Thursday, May 15th entitled, "The Role of Education Blogs at the Grassroots." This panel will be one of education bloggers, like you, who have experience galvanizing support for education through their blogs. Your experience mobilizing interest at the grassroots through Daily Kos is an invaluable contribution to this forum. We hope you’ll contribute your experiences with the challenges you have faced in getting attention to this issue, and help assess how influential your blog has been in the education debate. The one hour moderated panel discussion will consist of 5-10 minute remarks from each panelist, followed by Q&A with the audience.
The Bloggers Summit will convene at the Palomar Hotel in Washington, DC on the evening of May 14th and throughout the day of the 15th. A preliminary agenda for the event is attached. If you need to travel to Washington to participate in the Summit, Strong American Schools will cover the costs of your airfare and one night stay at the Palomar Hotel.
As the presidential election continues to heat up, we are excited about this opportunity to focus attention on the important issue of education and to facilitate further debate within the blogosphere. We hope you will consider participating in this event with us. Holly (last name omitted) of our staff will follow-up with your office to facilitate your participation in this event. In the meantime, please do not hesitate to call Holly at (number omitted) with any questions.
Sincerely,
Governor Roy Romer Marc Lampkin
Chairman Executive Director
After I read this email, I called my wife, Leave on the Current, and talked with her about it. Despite my previous reluctance for the reasons I have already described, she strongly urged me to consider going, pointing out that it would possible for me to attend a 3 PM session without missing my classes, or perhaps getting someone to cover all or part of my last class of the day from 1:30-2:15 - I can drive from school to the conference site in about 20-25 minutes. I then spoke with several other teachers in the department who also urged me to do it one even offering to cover my last class if I needed her to. So I called Holly and we talked about it, and I agreed to do it, once she accepted that my participation would be limited to the events the evening before, my panel, and the closing session immediately after my panel. I will not hear Gingrich's remarks, although I expect that I will meet him.
I still have mixed feelings about my participation. Holly told me that my visibility on education here at Dailykos made me a critical person for them to have. That is very much a testimony about the members of this community who have been willing to engage in serious discussions about education. And while I may not have written quite as much about education in the past few months, I still believe it to be a critical issue, and regularly use my encounters with Federal legislators and their staffs and with candidates for Congressional office to try to influence their thinking about public education policy. Participation in this conference, which given its backing will have high visibility, seems to be very much of a piece with the kinds of activities in which I already participate.
And so I thank the DailyKos community. At least, I think I do. I will have to see how the experience goes, two weeks hence. Although if it is not a positive one, that will fall more on me, on not having prepared sufficiently. So let me remove the qualifications - thank you to the Dailykos community for being willing to give an ear to the issues I and others raise about public education, teaching, schools, etc. This opportunity may have come to me, but it is also a recognition of the influence acceptance by this community represents.
Peace.
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