A great set of interviews...

Had a great couple of interviews, today, with the director of special education with the Kansas City, Kansas school district and the principal of Eisenhower Middle School in Kansas City for a mild/moderate special education resource room position they've been trying to fill:):)...great folks:):)...great district:):)...challenging position:):)...I'm all psyched:):)...

It is so impressive and refreshing, I must say, to see seasoned teachers/administrators so idealistic and committed to their jobs:):):)...very exciting:):)...and a very good beginning to my work with the district:):)...it looks like if I get this job, they'd like me to stay awhile:):)...

It's really exciting, I must say...the idea of working in KCK:):)...I have a special place in my heart for KCK:):)...

Both because of my teaching practicum at BRIDGES elementary, there, during the summer of 2000...a school for students with really serious behavioral issues who have been removed from other alternative settings...

And because Brandi was about the most enthusiastic resident/worker/community member of Kansas City, Kansas of anyone I ever met in Kansas City...check that...she was THE most enthusiastic member of the Kansas City community I ever met:):)...she loves that community...with all its issues:):)...and I guess that love of KC just rubbed off on me:):)...

And I am psyched about the opportunity to teach, again:):)...if there's anything that doing useful but less purposeful work offers you...it is to really appreciate the purposeful work, even with all the hassles that some with it:):)...including the paperwork...which we spent quite a bit talking about, today:):)...

And it is exciting to be able to share some ideas that I've had some time to develop, now, with some folks who feel a genuine responsibility for dealing with the problems they are meant to address...student violence...poverty...holding all students to the highest academic standards...and supporting them to get there...and generally supporting and challenging young people in ways that support their maturity...and the learning and growing of their teachers and their communities, as well:):)...

Eisenhower is a public school of choice, interestingly enough...and about 100 students have chosen Eisenhower, this year, as a part of choice provisions of the No Child Left Behind Act...very exciting...and a very nice comment on how parents and students think about Eisenhower:):)...

The Lawrence Journal World had a cover article, yesterday, on the Kansas State Board resisting efforts to introduce vouchers and charter schools as a part of school reforms in Kansas...

And I'm thinking...

What are they so scared of?...

That the new schools will be better than current public schools?...

Seems like an opportunity to welcome rather than resist...

That public schools may have something to learn from other schools?...

Sounds like a good idea to me...

That students may leave situations they don't feel good about in public schools to leave for what they hope will be better situations in other schools?...

Isn't that what we want?...parents and students taking their education seriously enough to choose the best situations for their kids and themselves?...

Or maybe what people are afraid of is that people will make bad choices...

Which, of course, never happens in public schools:):):):):):)...

You know why I believe in school choice...amongst a million other reasons...

Because I really do believe in public schools...and the opportunities that they offer kids...that they either take advantage of or not...

And I'm not scared...I think public schools...and public school students will do great...and are up to the challenge...of learning lessons from other schools that have the independence and freedom to learn diverse lessons...about how to improve situations in schools and for individual students...

And because I want parents and students to not just take education seriously enough to make important choices around it...

I want them to have the freedom, and thus the responsibility, that comes with making those choices...

Frankly...I think you can a great education -- if you take advantage of it -- in the schools in your own neigborhood...

But when people don't take as much advantage of those schools...as many people don't...

I don't want them to have the excuse that they just couldn't get into their school of choice...

I want them to be able to get access to whatever resources will be helpful to them...

And then I want them to get about the business of getting a strong education...to make a difference in this world...and to be a powerful change agent within it...

And when they don't...

I want them to only have one person to be able to point fingers at, if they're going to point fingers...

Themselves...

And not artificial limitations that we might put on them...

And it bodes well for Eisenhower that so many kids choose them:):)...

Hopefully, it means that they're earning that support...

And that's what public schools need to get focussed on, right now...

Earning the support of students and parents...rather than defending their turf...which is the tactic of a gang member...not schools that are confident in their abilities because they deserve to be:):)...

And those are the kind of schools that we want for all kids:):)...

More on school choice, another time...there are far more good arguments for school choice than there are bad arguments against it...

I need to get to work, here:):)...

Have a great day, everyone:):)...

Love,
Ben