I receive the same two questions every time I stand before an audience to talk about the year I spent chronicling one of the worst-performing schools in the state of Indiana.
“What’s the solution?” and “What did you learn?”
The solution, I argue, can be found in the failing schools themselves. Despite all of the problems I found during my year at Manual High, there were pockets of excellence that can serve as a guide. Such as:
- The 25-year-old choir teacher who worked so hard to engage his students that he was often sweating at the end of his classes. By his second year at the school, the choir program had more than tripled in size and previously at-risk students were working harder than ever.
- The Army veteran turned school police officer who spent every day trying to build relationships with students, aware that many needed a mentor and that the relationships he forged today would pay off in times of crisis later.
- The special-needs teacher who was nearing retirement age but just couldn’t imagine walking away from a group of students who suffered from the most profound learning disabilities. Her students wouldn’t go to college, but she knew that if she worked hard enough some would ultimately be able to live semi-independently.
When people ask me for a quick-hit solution to America’s education problems, I instead share the words of Earl Martin Phalen, who runs a program in Indiana that seeks to prevent low-income students from suffering a summer learning loss. Two years ago, a schools superintendent introduced Phalen at a news conference as: “The brains behind the operation.”
Searching for Hope, Life at a Failing School in the Heart of America by Matthew Tully