Education is politics on the ground

It is a high ideal for citizens to want the best education system possible. If we are going to have high ideals, we had better transform them into action.

Here are some serious questions.

How many parents (out there in Voxland) have volunteered at a school? How many have attended school meetings? How many have attended school board meetings? How many have used their telephone or visited their state or regional office of education to consult with educators on goals and programs? How many parents have contributed to curriculum design or testing policy?

Many people, including Americans, suffer from a faulty notion that "politics" is national. We tend to think that to "save" our nation, we have to vote for the right national leader. When voting, or casting a ballot in a primary, or in raising your hand at a caucus for a presidential candidate, many of us feel proud about being part of democracy.

Meanwhile our schools are out of whack, and almost no parents are willing to insert themselves into the educational machinery. That machinery is public. It is paid for by taxes. Teachers are trained in our state universities and certified by state boards. This is politics at home.

If we could get warm fuzzy feelings from casting a vote for our favorite national leader, how much more good could we do and feel if we got involved in our schools?

Want to mold the future of your country? That future is being molded today and every day. In school.