The Bursars, a group of school business officials from England, recently visited Michigan and took part in activities at MSBO and the Southwest MSBO annual conference in Kalamazoo. My great-grand parents arrived on this country's shores from the Bourne District of Lincolnshire, England shortly after the American Civil War. (My father was born in 1909. So, yes, it was only a couple generations back that my ancestors arrived in America in the early 1870's and first settled in Iowa as farmers.)
The British are, of course, famous for their stoic personalities. Heaven forbid that any of the royal family should express emotion. Can you imagine the Queen or the Prince crying or showing anger in public? What a public relations disaster that would be! (Maybe that is one reason why Princess Diana had such a hard time with the royals. Her obvious compassion and emotions for those who had lost a limb from a land mine, for the poor that she met in her many foreign mission trips, or for her own sons did not sit well with the stoic upper crust.)
During World War II, Winston Churchill was known for rallying the British even during the darkest days of the Blitzkrieg bombing of London.
Churchill once said:
“Never give in, never give in, never; never; never; never - in nothing, great or small, large or petty - never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense.”
But he also said:
“Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm."
The British lost many citizens and many of their important relics during the Nazi bombing of their country, let alone their troops who died in Northern Africa, Asia, and the European continent. Through the darkest days of the war, there was Winston Churchill, stoic with a British stiff upper lip, encouraging one and all to fight the good fight, to never give in, to rally the good people of England to fight the evil, tyranny, and injustice of the fascist regimes of Germany, Italy, and Japan:
“I never worry about action, but only about inaction.”
“Success is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm.”
“A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.”
We in public education in Michigan, and elsewhere, are under attack. Certainly, I dare not compare what is happening to public education to the bombing of England during World War II, but make no mistake about it, it is an attack nonetheless.
For those of us in public education who understand that the strength of this nation comes from a universally educated citizenry, it pains us to see the critics of public education assailing us from so many angles. They criticize if we spend too much on teachers' salaries and benefits, or too little. They criticize the results of standardized tests. They criticize if we spend too much time talking about religion, they criticize us saying we spend too little time talking about God. They claim that there are too many administrators, too much bureaucracy, and too little results.
Some of this criticism is valid and we need to be strong enough to admit it, make corrections, and move on.
But much of it is not. Universal, free and appropriate public education is still one of the greatest blessings of this country. It remains for many poor and working class families their one opportunity to improve their lives and enhance their futures.
Yes, we have blemishes, warts, and all. Yes, we are not perfect. We are open and honest enough to admit it. But never, never, never, never forget that public education is all about the future, all about kids.
Even in these dark economic times in which many in our society criticize public education, we must be stoic and strong and stand up for public education and for kids.
“You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life.” - Winston Churchill
P.S. Thank you for the opportunity to serve on the MSBO Board this past seven years. God bless each of you for what you do for public education and the kids you serve each and every day.