"25 square miles" is a phrase coined by former Gov. Lee Dreyfus when describing the city of Madison, WI. It's on our family's license plate and now my blog name. The governor implied that Madison is "...25 square miles of fantasy surrounded by reality." Like so many others in this city, I have always taken great pride in the fact that Madison cares deeply about the welfare of everyone in our fair city. I believe my license plate ethic. My husband and I have devoted the last 20 years of our lives to public education. Our daughter is a city planner in San Francisco. Her and her husband are volunteering time there to help organize a marketing plan that encourages support for the public schools. And our son, currently a first year law student, spends two half days a week volunteering in Minneapolis Public Schools. We, along with many, many others care about making a difference.
So recently, I've been rereading a book by Paul Tough called Whatever It Takes, with my UW-PDS students. It describes in detail Jeffrey Canada's plan for the Harlem Children's Zone. He asks the question "What would it take?" Meaning what would it take to change the lives of not just a few but many poor children nationwide? Mr. Canada visited Madison recently and shared his hopeful plan and it's successful results. President Obama and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan are paying close attention to this model as well. But one comment of Mr. Duncan's, in particular, has stuck with me. He said that no one is going to drop down into Madison,WI and change our situation. It's going to be our own doing that changes the lives of our poor students.
So with a $30 million budget cut looming in our present school reality, I can't help but wonder, can we do it? Will this city take on the challenge of "baby college" offering to teach parenting skills? Early childhood education? Pre-K schooling? These measures may have the largest impact on the neediest among us. Will our city maintain small class sizes so teachers can address the academic needs of every student and reach beyond the classroom walls to understand family needs? Will our city give the school board feedback that says vote for cuts that least affect poor children?
I'm proud to be a supervisor for the UW-PDS (Professional Development School) program. It's mission is to train teachers who put social justice at the forefront of their instruction. The students who apply to this program agree to do extra work. They must commit to community fieldwork experiences. They must do action research to improve their instructional practices. They must help design their seminar class so it includes community resources and expertise. They live within two schools for all four semesters of their practicum experience so they delve deeper into the families and issues that are our students' day to day realities. Most of them enter the program with the hope of teaching in an urban setting where poverty is an issue. I'm honored to support young people that want to dedicate their lives to this work. My job is on the cut list for next year because the UW supports less than .33% of my salary. MMSD has picked up the rest for years because they believed in the PDS partnership. Personally, it's not a concern for me. I can return to the elementary classroom and continue to make a difference. But I must ask, " Will UW-Madison see the value in a teacher education program that puts poor students at the forefront?"
Will our city be worthy of it's title? Are we truly the oasis we claim to be or are we only a fantasy deguised by reality?
Wow, I think you found your calling and possibly a way to rally support and make a difference. Welcome to the blogosphere.
ReplyDeleteYou ask some very tough questions. With respect to the new Pre-K funding, that will ONLY make a difference for the students you mention if they can actually attend and make up the majority of attendance there. Perhaps we would have been better off putting that money specifically at the Head Start program to be sure that it is reaching the right audience, not just my neighbors who want to pay for one less year of preschool. If it ends up being the latter, I would rather see the money going to save the PDS program where we will ultimately reach more of the students who really need it.
Duncan is right. The hole belongs to our community and our school board and we can decide if we are digging it deeper or digging ourselves out of it. So far, I have not been impressed with some of the decisions that have been made. I'm not sure if there are more people riding on one side of the fence than the other, or if our voices are not loud enough yet for the powers at be to hear the whole story and consider the future impact of their decisions. Who are they really reaching and at what cost.
If enough of us keep talking we can effect change. After all, look at the state of technology in Thoreau now compared to Sept. It all started with one teacher willing to experiment. Now, one microphone at a time, we will give Thoreau students access to knowledge through tools they didn't have before and skills that will serve them for the rest of their years.