Education: A "Public Good"

“… in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only” (A tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens, 1859).

Contrasting extremes is indeed the time in which we find ourselves living. Name a topic or issue that doesn’t engender polar opposite positions, rhetoric, and “facts”. The one area that unapologetically should not create controversy or conflict is education.

The value proposition of an education is a “public” good. What must not be in debate are the individual, community, state, region, and national benefits of an educated citizenry. Though we seem to be caught up in perpetual national debate of “how” rather than a clearly defined “what” and “why” of an education.

Where, when and to what extent we lost sight of this reality is exactly why there is such conflict and controversy in what should be the obvious – we all benefit and conversely we all suffer when there is failed learning.

The peripheral or fringe arguments, opinions, and debates surrounding, for example Common Core, misses the “public good” outcome of consistent and common standards. Refusing to opine the motivation or agenda of those that appear to have missed or ignored the reality that it was the Governors and Chief State officers that recognized the injustice experienced by learners across the nation by inconsistent standards and therefore took action for the “public good” of education, I simply ask that we seize the opportunity to speak to the promises, the benefits, and desired outcomes of an education.

Simply or maybe not so, is time to move the conversation forward to what matters most. To do so consider –

•   What are the promises of an education?

•   What are the benefits of an education?

•   In what ways do we as a community, state, region, or nation benefit from an educated citizenry? (Or do we?)

•   What do my own children (or yours) lose if all learners experience the promises or achieve the benefits of an education?

•   Why is it important that all be educated? (Or is it?)

•   Why is it important that all citizens benefit from an education? (Or should they?)

I remain extremely confident and optimistic that if we individually and collectively wrestle with the aforementioned questions that the “how” will begin to make more sense raising our national awareness, understanding and support for innovation, creativity, and the means to meet or exceed our expectations for, of and by an education.