President's Viewpoint

January 2005

'In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer.'

—Albert Camus

The invincible summer in us also explains why our Association will not waver in our efforts to ensure that every child in America can attend a great public school right in his or her own neighborhood.

We will continue to fight for the great public school reforms that we know will work:

• free, universal preschool
• smaller class sizes
• a qualified and caring teacher in every classroom
• a challenging curriculum
• ample resources for all public schools, including those that serve poor and minority students
• involved parents.

Given today's potentially partisan political atmosphere, are we being unrealistic? We don't think so. Public education is deeply rooted in America, and attempts to "voucherize" or privatize education have been repeatedly rebuffed by the electorate. What's more, polling done by NEA and other education organizations clearly shows that Americans share deeply held beliefs and values about public schools.

Americans see public schools as the engine of individual opportunity in the "land of opportunity." In addition, Americans believe public schools provide concrete benefits for our nation.

But Americans also want reassurance that public schools are instilling in students the values most Americans hold dear: hard work, persistence, personal responsibility, and respectful behavior.

As we strive to survive in the wake of the so-called No Child Left Behind law, we tend to focus on things academic. And this is necessary, but not sufficient. We need to talk more about values. We need to emphasize that our goal is to give students the skills and knowledge they need to succeed in life. And part and parcel of this effort is our teaching students the value of working hard and never giving up. It's about our teaching students the importance of behaving responsibly and respectfully toward others.

Polls also show that Americans are much harder on parents than educators. They do not think some parents are doing a very good job of raising their children—and as educators, we see this every day. But instead of criticizing parents, we need to reach out to them—welcome them—and help them understand what we are trying to accomplish in our schools and how they can help their children learn more and behave better.

A coalition of educators and parents and grassroots people of good will—Democrats, Republicans, and independents alike—united by their shared values would be a powerful alliance. One might even say an invincible alliance.

NEA can lead the way, helping our fellow citizens find the common ground for such an alliance—because that common ground happens to be the higher ground of our nation's shared commitment to children, to public schools, and to America's future.

NEA President Reg Weaver