Excerpt from report, editing, re-reporting, brief comment by
Carolyn Bennett
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In America, we believe fate is not fixed by circumstances of
birth,” the Equity and Excellence Commission said in its report. “The surest
guarantor of this ideal is educational opportunity—the birthright of each and
every child. [But] for so many children today ─ and many more to come ─ these
American values are made hollow by [the country’s] failure to ensure equity and
excellence throughout the system of public education.”
Few challenges are as critical or as fundamental, the Commission
report said. “The achievement gaps described [in the report] weaken the country
internationally, economically and morally.”
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| E Pluribus Unum |
CRISIS of neglect in U.S. education
“For Each, Every Child: a strategy for education equity and
excellence” (challenge)
“In 1983, A Nation at
Risk [Education report] famously spoke of the ‘rising tide of mediocrity’ that
threatened [U.S.] schools,” recalls a report this month by the Equity and
Excellence Commission to the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Education. “Nearly
30 years later, the tide has come in—and we are drowning.”
The Imperative for Educational
Reform is the title of a 1983 report by U.S. President Ronald Reagan’s National
Commission on Excellence in Education.
Its publication (‘A Nation at Risk’)
is considered a landmark event in modern U.S. educational history. Among other
things, the report contributed to the ever-growing (and still present) sense that American schools are failing. (Wikipedia note)
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aken as a whole, said this latest report “For Each and Every
Child: a strategy for education equity and excellence,” the United States “fails
[the] nation and [fails] too many… children.”
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| PressTV image with reporting on Education report |
U.S. leaders “decry but tolerate disparities in student
outcomes that are not only unfair [but] socially and economically dangerous.” Commitments
“to academic excellence are often eloquent [in words but in practice and policy] “… insufficient in addressing educational challenges at home and abroad.”
The United States, the report said, “cannot continue to
leave unexamined the traditional structures of schools, systems, and spending.”
The nation cannot afford complacency in light of past achievements.
WHAT TO DO
E Pluribus Unum
(? sloganeer)
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| E Pluribus Unum |
Schools in the United States “must do more than ensure future
economic prosperity,” the commissioners said. Schools “must foster the nation’s civic
culture and sense of common purpose and create the unified nation” celebrated
in the motto: E Pluribus Unum (Latin
for ‘Out of many, one’; alternatively translated as ‘One out of many’ or ‘One
from many’)
“So much depends on fulfilling this mission:
Shared ideals that enable the U.S. governmental
system to hold together even in the face of fractious political disagreements;
Strength of American diversity;
‘Domestic tranquility’ referenced in
Preamble to the Constitution of the United States and
Ability to maintain influence as example
and power projected in the world
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In the minds of citizens and immigrants and in the
imagination of billions of people worldwide, the United States is built on the
principle of great and equal opportunities. Facing enormous demographic change
and international competition, the urgent task is to remake our education
system to meet the demands of justice and the tests of competition.”
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| U.S. wars |
Americans neglect these principles and expectations “at our
peril,” the commissioners warn. “Officials,
administrators and constituents at all levels of government must attack the failings
in U.S. education ─ as a moral and economic imperative.…
Leaders must “develop policies that give states and school
districts incentives to pursue legal and feasible means to promote racially and
socioeconomically diverse schools” (the federal government should continue supporting
diversity as part of a broader equity agenda) because racially diverse schools benefit
all students and help them prepare for life and productive work in a diverse
society.
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| U.S. killer drone wars |
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Equity is essential to shoring up the entire nation’s standing
in the global economy,” the report said. “We must avoid a future that continues
to consign millions of poor children to inadequate schools lacking the great
teachers and principals they need. Any goal of competitiveness and excellence
must start with equity, or be doomed to failure. … Policy details are important,”
the report said, but “moral and political determination is vital.…
We cannot have a strong democracy
without an informed and engaged citizenry. A strong public school system is
essential to a strong democracy.
The Equity and Excellence Commission said of its findings
and recommendations: “We hope to kindle a sense of urgency that is both
passionate and compassionate, keeping eyes on the prize” … instead of “distracting”
with searches for “villains” to vilify and “heroes” to celebrate.
Neglected and worsening crises
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| 1983 |
“In America, we believe fate is not fixed by circumstances
of birth,” the commission said. But the statement is untrue on its face and I
expect the commissioners or whoever wrote the statement knew full well that it
is false. Members of the commission are listed below; make your own judgment.
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merica’s chronic problems are like curable diseases and
deliberate ignorance. Americans just refuse to cure them. Instead of taking into account the whole, they
go shopping. Warning after warning is met with avoidance as if Americans see themselves as separate and apart from other people, from the world, from the planet.
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| 2013 Report by the Equity and Excellence Commission: “For Each and Every Child: a strategy for education equity and excellence” |
Will this report make a difference? Or is it, as I suggested at the top, just another exercise in
appearing to do something while doing nothing to actively address a man-made crisis?
Will Americans commit
for the long term to ending another of resolvable domestic and international crisis?
Or will Americans continue to do what they usually do ─ ingest a temporary “feel-good”
and camp out on the couch?
Sources and notes
Report by the Equity and Excellence Commission: “For Each
and Every Child: a strategy for education equity and excellence”; A Report to
the Secretary of Education of the U.S. Department of Education, February 2,
2013, http://www2.ed.gov/about/bdscomm/list/eec/equity-excellence-commission-report.pdf
The Equity and Excellence Commission (the Commission) is a federal advisory committee chartered by
Congress, operating under the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA); 5 U.S.C.,
App.2.
The commission’s charge was to provide advice to the
secretary of the U.S. Department of Education on the disparities in meaningful
educational opportunities that give rise to the achievement gap, with a focus
on systems of finance, and to recommend ways in which federal policies could
address such disparities. The findings
and recommendations of the commission do not represent the views of the
department, and this document does not represent information approved or
disseminated by the Department of Education.
Foreword by the Commission Co-Chairs: by Christopher Edley,
Jr. and Mariano-Florentino Cuéllar
Democracy Now headlines February 20, 2013, http://www.democracynow.org/2013/2/20/headlines#2207
“Dept. of Education Panel Says School System Burdening
Low-Income Children ─ A federal commission has found U.S. education policies
are burdening students from low-income families. In a new report, the Equity
and Excellence Commission concluded: ‘No other developed nation has inequities
nearly as deep or systemic; no other developed nation has ... so thoroughly
stacked the odds against so many of its children.’
“The panel goes on to call for greater investments in public
education, better training of teachers, equality in allocating funds, and a new
push for more ethnically diverse schools.
“The commission was created by the Department of Education,
but its findings largely reject the department’s bipartisan education reform
effort, saying the focus on charter schools and standardized testing has been ‘poorly
targeted.’”
Wikipedia note
E Pluribus Unum?
E Pluribus Unum included in the Seal of the United States;
one of the nation’s mottos at the time of the seal’s creation
Latin for ‘Out of many, one’ (alternatively
translated as ‘One out of many’ or ‘One from many’ — is a phrase on the Seal of
the United States, along with Annuit cœptis and Novus ordo seclorum, and
adopted by an Act of Congress in 1782.
Never codified by law, E pluribus
unum was considered a de facto motto of the United States until 1956 when the
United States Congress passed an act (H. J. Resolution 396) adopting ‘In God We
Trust’ as the official motto. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E_pluribus_unum
See also
Exhibition Hall is home to E Pluribus Unum
- Out of Many One, the only exhibition in the world dedicated to telling the
story of the United States Congress and the U.S. Capitol.
Exhibition Hall features original documents and artifacts,
videos, touchable models, computer inter-actives and two small theaters
providing visitors with an in-depth look at how Congress works; the history of
the Capitol and Congress, as well as information on Representatives and
Senators. http://www.visitthecapitol.gov/exhibitions/index.html
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s America grew from the early 1800s, “so did the government,
and by 1850, it had outgrown the [earlier] building, and construction started
again.
“The new architect faced the daunting task of expanding both
wings of the building and creating an even more imposing central dome. The House
of Representatives moved to their new chamber in 1857 and the Senate moved in
1859.
“When the Civil War began in 1861, the dome had not yet been
completed and most construction temporarily ceased. The building … briefly
served as a barracks and hospital for the union. In 1863, the Statue of Freedom
was placed on top of the Capitol dome. At a height of 19 feet and 3 inches, the
bronze cast weighed almost 15,000 pounds and its placement signified the completion
of the building; it became a symbol of the country.
“Until 2000, when the Capitol Visitor Center was
commissioned, the building remained much like it did when it was completed in
1863, with no large additions to the main structure.”
http://www.nyu.edu/brademas/pdf/Racine_Brademaspaper.pdf
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/loc.music.sm1850.650180/default.html
Member Commissioners of the February 2, 2013, education
report “For Each and Every Child: a strategy for education equity
and excellence”; A Report to the Secretary of Education of the U.S. Department
of Education, February 2, 2013:
This report reflects the consensus
of the commission. It does not reflect the full scope of each commission
member’s views with respect to the issues discussed in the report. To elaborate
on some of the dialogue and ideas discussed by this commission, a number of us
have submitted, and some have collaborated upon, independently authored
materials for a compendium which can be found in Appendix C.
The Equity and Excellence Commission (the Commission) is a federal advisory committee chartered by
Congress, operating under the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA); 5 U.S.C.,
App.2.
Russlynn Ali The Emerson Collective
Cynthia Brown Vice President, Education Policy Center for
American Progress
Mike Casserly Executive Director The Council of Great City
Schools
Mariano-Florentino Cuéllar Stanley Morrison Professor of Law
Stanford Law School
Linda Darling-Hammond Charles E. Ducommun Professor of
Education Stanford University Sandra Dungee Glenn President and Chief Executive
Officer The American Cities Foundation
Christopher Edley, Jr. Dean of U.C. Berkeley Law School
University of California at Berkeley
Eric Hanushek Paul and Jean Hanna Senior Fellow at the
Hoover Institution Stanford University
Karen Hawley Miles President and Executive Director
Education Resource Strategies
Kati Haycock President The Education Trust
Benjamin Todd Jealous President, Chief Executive Officer The
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
John B. King, Jr. Commissioner of Education and President of
the University of the State of New York
Ralph Martire Executive Director The Center for Tax and
Budget Accountability
Matt Miller Columnist, The Washington Post Senior Fellow,
Center for American Progress
Marc H. Morial President, Chief Executive Officer The
National Urban League
Michael A. Rebell Professor, Executive Director The Campaign
for Educational Equity Teachers College, Columbia University
Ahniwake Rose (Cherokee) Executive Director National Indian
Education Association
Jesse H. Ruiz Partner, Drinker Biddle & Reath Vice
President, Chicago Board of Education
James E. Ryan Matheson & Morgenthau Distinguished
Professor of Law University of Virginia School of Law
Thomas A. Saenz President & General Counsel Mexican
American Legal Defense and Educational Fund
David G. Sciarra Executive Director The Education Law Center
Robert T. Teranishi Associate Professor of Higher Education New
York University
Jacquelyn Thompson Director (retired) The Office of Special
Education and Early Intervention Services Michigan Department of Education
José M. Torres Superintendent School District U-46, Elgin,
Illinois
Dennis Van Roekel President The National Education
Association
Randi Weingarten President American Federation of Teachers
Doris Terry Williams Executive Director The Rural School and
Community Trust
"United States education system hit by dire crisis: Report," February 20, 2013, http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2013/02/20/289975/us-education-system-hits-dire-crisis/
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