#9 Winners & Losers?: Public Education at the Crossroads

In a time of economic, political, and cultural turmoil, we continue to have an educational system centered around the concept of competition, despite the recognition that not everyone enters the “game” with the same skills, equipment, and prior exposure. In Episode 9, Dr. Anthony Jones, current Ames Community School District Director of Equity, and future Director of Laboratory Schools at Illinois State University, talks with me about the current state of public education and our concerns that like white flight of the 1960s and 1970s from inner cities, we may begin to see larger shifts of students and families away from public education in favor of homeschooling, online learning platforms, and charter and private schools, leaving the most vulnerable in our society to once again fend for themselves. As educators prepare for the summer “break,” Dr. Jones urges them to push pause and dig deep within themselves. Why are you an educator? What are the elements that ignite your joy and passion? Like I said in #8 Me, Myself, and I, how educators show up impacts the learning environment as much, if not more so, than how students show up. We urge to create communities of caring where students and teachers are free to bring their whole selves and learn with one another, rather than in silos. Now is the time to break the cycle and begin to create a new system that honors our educators and the students they serve.