Schools an Education in Crisis

For two days in 2006 the Oprah show dealt with what those she interviewed, including Melinda and Bill Gates, called a crisis in American education. It boiled down to low expectations and large, inadequate education facilities. But for the students, it meant no one knew their names and no one cared. The students got lost in the education system.

The Oprah show with Melinda and Bill Gates profiled several pilot schools, but one type of successful pilot school of education, championed by Melinda and Bill Gates, really caught my attention. Students who'd felt like nobodies in their school now felt that they mattered. Teachers, even the principal, knew their names, and cared about where they were headed with their education and with their lives. Students who'd been thinking about dropping out began to flourish in this education environment. One student went from a 2.5 to a 4.0 average. She said of her education environment, "There's not enough room to fall through the cracks."

Why did this program on the education system catch my attention? Because just while Nebraska seemed bent on destroying the smaller schools, large school districts around the nation are discovering that splitting into smaller schools is better for students and for their education. The pilot programs are proving it.

As Melinda and Bill Gates discovered, small schools keep students, teachers and parents in connection with one another, because all are held accountable, and there is a much greater potential for a real bonding of care and concern to take place. This facilitates not just marking time for teens, but a chance at real education under a positive educational environment where the student is far more than simply a number or a reason for more government funds.