Reflection 3

Whose voices should be considered in the process of school reform--the voices of students, teachers, community members, local school board members...those of state- and/or federal-level politicians? What is the level of impact that each of these stakeholders has on the system as we know it? What are the moral, philosophical, and social ramifications of the power, or lack thereof, of each of these voices? What voices are present at the David School?

School reform or restructure needs to be a combination of students, teachers, community members, local school board members and local, state, and federal elected officials. All groups are needed to agree on a set policy that will work for their particular district. Although not every school district in the United States can follow the Chicago model, many schools in Texas are required to have a site based decision making team comprised of the same make up of people. Since the 1980’s, school reform has been a response to the economic problems that face most American’s; however, it can be concluded that education is the not the failure.

Each stakeholder has an impact on why education is being reformed today. Local, state, and federal politicians are reacting to the economic pulse in America. When the economy is performing poorly, policy makers often look to education as the failure. Politicians fail to look at their own policies to find errors and instead of reforming education, they look at social programs that affect education, such as STD’s, drug and alcohol abuse, and childhood obesity. Students as well as parents also need to look at the choices that they make regarding their own education. Should vouchers and charter school be part of the educational practices. It will be interesting to see how successful these programs will be in the future. School boards members and elected officials sometimes have their own personal agendas that may not be in agreement with the direction that a school district is taking.

With great power comes great responsibility. Schools were initially established to provide skills and values for the students of their communities. It should become worrisome when educational reformers are concerned with development of elite students, while forgetting the minorities, poor and disadvantage students. Educators have a moral responsibility to educate all in order to promote a better society. While legislatures worry about the economic impact to the business community, they must keep in mind that it is the policies that they create and pass that has an effect on the student and parent populations. While the federal government responds and caters to the business community, it removes the power of the state and local communities responsible for education students.

The students, parents, community, teachers and administrators all share voices at the David School. Mitzi does a fantastic job of allowing students to create and promote projects that they are interested in and the students grow from the experiences. It is unfortunate that sometimes the parental role is not always a positive one, especially for Chris. He had to be accountable for something that he did not do, but he also needed to continue to go to school and Mitzi held him accountable and he returned to school. The David School even provides a smoking corner for students and they give Chris a check off sheet to complete his assignments. The school is very positive to Chris and they do want him to succeed. Even though Chris wants to drop out and work fulltime, Mitzi encourages him to finish his senior year. She is a wonderful encourager and it was obvious that the students had a personal relationship with her when she resigned. They cried and discussed their personal experiences with her. The David School has given Cody the critical literacy to fight for his social security beyond the functional level. The David School is a wonderful example of a student centered culture.