Empirical Idealism in U.S. Public Education

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/02/education/02baltimore.html?hp

     Great news from the city of Baltimore touches on multiple issues regarding low-income communities, low-achieving public schools, and the politics behind the public school system. An immigrant from Cuba, Andres Alonso deserves the attention for his hard work in improving the public education system of Baltimore. What the New York Times article notes, however, is that his efforts were fruitful because of his connections with political figures and thus a comfortable control over the public school system. The article also touches on some important facts regarding the elimination of educational inequity, along with the role non-profit organizations can play in realizing educational opportunity for all U.S. students.
     The non-profit organization, Teach For America, invests in post-undergraduate and graduate students by sending them to various schools in low-income communities in both urban and rural areas to teach for a span of two years. From her book, "One Day, All Children...: The Unlikely Triumph Of Teach For America And What I Learned Along The Way", Teach for America's founder, Wendy Kopp, describes a dream of establishing a teachers corps parallel to the peace corps. Her energetic and confident path toward making this dream a reality proved effective, and each year, Teach For America expands both its corps membership and funding as seen in their annual reports. The New York Times article regarding the Baltimore public education system, demonstrates that Teach For America's alumni base can one day lead the march in working with the politics that could be retarding the elimination of educational inequity.
     From the students' point of view, it is very important to understand a key aspect of this article, low-achieving public schools could be facing the ills of low motivation. Teach For America strives to demonstrate that when students, in any community, live in a culture where success is attainable and not a vague dream, they excel. What the Baltimore school system transformed was this culture of discouragement: students felt welcome in their public schools. This was achieved in part by removing the penalty of suspension for school violations. Suspensions created a sense that the schools "did not want them there". What Teach For America alumni can do over time after exposure to the urgency behind educational inequity, is transform the public system from within. 
     Teacher effectiveness can motivate students to a degree, but they cannot be an island in the growth of student efficacy. The public school systems across our nation need to be structured so as to remove the image of a day care for misbehaved adolescents. They should be organized so as to promote the future of the student by engaging their minds in thinking of a better future and that this path is possible despite all the hardships they may face. How can such a feat be undertaken by the superintendent? By imitating Andres Alfonso and taking individual responsibility for interjecting energy and motivation into the students, organizations and events. Optimism will allow for more resourcefulness in solving this issue as non-profits such as Teach For America are numerous in our nation. What Wendy Kopp realized was that people are willing to help, they just need the direction and the guide.