Education is Freedom

I could have called this post a number of other things: Knowledge is Power, The Glory of God is Intelligence...what ever I call it, I have to say something about education.

I hate to admit that I got fired up from watching Oprah today--I couldn't resist the ad that said Bill & Melinda Gates wanted to come on Oprah and share their biggest cause. The show struck a nerve with me--our tiny town is Loserville with a capital L as far as public education goes (example: coming from a school where the median ACT score was 27 and I got a 30, I was shocked to learn that a 23 was GOOD here)--dropping out to become a manual laborer or a teenage mom is not unusual, and I am horrified to send my kids to school here. Fortunately I have a few years to get involved and make a plan of action. Please, please, PLEASE go to the Stand Up website and AT LEAST send the letter to your governor asking him to get behind this movement for better high schools (I have already filled out a survey here in Montana stating that I think all that extra money we made from the huge tobacco tax we passed should go to education--I want the elementary school down the street from me to open up again in the next 2 years--it closed due to budget constraints and not enough kids to fill it, but since then, over 150 houses have been built in the area and 250 more are slated for construction. That should bring in enough kids and dollars, doncha think?)

Learning to read, to comprehend what I read, to think, to put myself in the shoes of others throughout history and throughout our world today, to reason and to empathize has made me a better person and has given me the kind of life most of the world only dreams about. I don't mean that I am wealthy or pampered or living in luxury--I mean that all of my needs are met as are most of my wants; my life is generally free of genuine worry or financial stress, and full of rich and beautiful things because my husband and I have learned to think and reason and appreciate the world around us. I credit this to TWO things: our families of origin and our EDUCATION. Economics aside, the quality of the life you lead when you really LEARN HOW TO LEARN is so staggeringly better, it makes me cry to think that the majority of my fellow Americans are living hand to mouth, blind to their potential because of lack of education.

In a country where even the poorest wage earner pays something toward public education through taxes, it is nothing but shameful to see and read about the massive failings of the public school system. My knee-jerk reaction has been to home school or super-supplement my kids' education to give them what they need and deserve, but it just dawned on me that EVERY KID deserves what I am striving to give mine--even if their moms work full-time and can't be as involved, even if homeschool was never an option, even if their parents think school is a waste of time. Every American child deserves to have someone show them the value of an education, the joy of reading and finding what you're really truly good at, the peace of knowing you are equipped to provide for yourself and your family in a job that you enjoy and you're good at.

I am definitely going to get involved here. I might end up with another ulcer, but like the song says, "conquer we must when our cause it is just," and I think this is something I can get behind with my mind, heart, and spirit. The first thing I am going to do is see how I can help at Big Sisters and at Learning Partners, as well as start attending school board meetings (ho-hum). And I will continue to pray and teach my children good things at home. What are you going to do?