Something Bigger

In his wildly successful book, Rick Warren reminds us that "It' not about me." He tells us that we were meant for a bigger purpose than self-service. Today while reading Pedro Noguera's book, I flipped the book closed and pushed it away in frustration.
Chapter 11 discusses holding schools accountable. Not a problem with me. I'm all for ensuring that we perform at the highest level. What infuriated me was Noguera's discussion about local funding and social capital. He reminded me how the obvious disparities in public school funding continue to hamper the most economically depressed districts.
This is not a commentary on how money solves every problem facing schools like mine. Instead, it is an attack on the polarized views of the two mindsets. Those who believe money infused into these failing schools are wrong. And those who believe labeling and closing failing schools because of test results are equally wrong.
Noguera writes, the "...education children receive is directly related to the ability of parents to generate social capital" (199). The parents of students attending low performing schools are often lacking the confidence or know-how to demand changes.
One of the glaring differences between succeeding schools and failing schools is the voice of the parents as expressed at Board of Education meetings and election days. Who is responsible for educating the parents, for providing them with the social capital to influence their local school?

At the moment, I want to take a leave of absence from the classroom and become a community organizer.