YEARLYKOS is pleased to announce our education panel session,
"Changing Education - Changing America." If we are going to meet the challenge of our time and unfold the full potential of every child then we must do more than change our schools, we must change America.We have a frustrating paradox: just when we need high quality public education more than at any time in our history, the American public is showing real signs of turning its back on our schools. To address this we need The Great Conversation - a discussion between those who work in our schools and the people who live in their surrounding communities along formal and informal parallel tracks.
The panel will consist of three people, Jamie Vollmer, a former businessman who knows that education is not a business and is uniquely positioned to bridge the gap between educators and the business community; Gov. Tom Vilsack of Iowa, whose wife Christy has been a school teacher and school librarian, and whose state still does not have high stakes examinations as a condition of graduation from high school; and Kenneth Bernstein (teacherken), a National Board Certified Social Studies teacher who regularly blogs about education at dailykos and elsewhere. There is more information about them below.
We have deliberately limited the panel to only three participants. This will allow greater interaction among the panelist and more time for participation by the audience. Jamie Vollmer will make some introductory remarks to set the scene, Tom Vilsack will offer responses from the perspective of an elected public official and teacherken will both coordinate and attempt to ensure that the perspective of working educators is also presented. We will be meeting on Saturday morning, June 10, so that working educators whose school year is not completed will be able to participate.
Here is what our panelists have to say about Yearlykos.
JAMIE VOLLMER:
I am pleased to accept your gracious invitation to participate in the education strand of YearlyKos. I look forward to our session, "Changing Education-Changing America", with a combination of hope and fear.
My hope is that I, the other panel members, and a passionate audience will join in a productive conversation that leaves us all better prepared change the culture of America and ensure greater student success.
My fear is that the intensity of the topic, the commitment of the panel, and the fervor of the audience will explosively collide leaving us energized andexhilarated, but not sure what the heck happened.
Governor Tom Vilsack:
Our nation faces serious economic competition now and into the future. Meeting that challenge will require bright and innovative thinkers. Quality schools properly equipped and staffed by dedicated and well paid teachers will be key to making America a nation of creators and innovators. We will never be that nation if our national education policy amounts to an underfunded slogan.
Kenneth Bernstein (aka teacherken):
Education is the future of our nation and our society. We cannot sustain our democracy without reinvigorating public education. I hope our session on education will provide us with ideas and momentum to that effect.
ABOUT OUR PANELISTS
Jamie Vollmer is a friend of public education. A businessman and attorney, he understands that our schools must change, but insists that aggressive support for public education is necessary for America to remain great. In sixteen years of work with schools and communities to increase student success, Jamie has learned the hard way that improving public education means more than changing our schools - it means changing America.
Tom Vilsack is completing his second term as Governor of Iowa. He has also served as a mayor, state senator, head of the Democratic Governors Association, and head of the Democratic Leadership Council. He established Heartland Pac to help elect more Democrats as governors, and reached out to the blogosphere, including Dailykos, to solicit ideas on issues, beginning with education.
Kenneth Bernstein is a national board certified social studies teacher at Eleanor Roosevelt High School in Greenbelt, MD. He blogs on education and other subjects as "teacherken" at dailykos and elsewhere. He is co-author of a monograph on the Bush education proposal and serves as a peer reviewer for several educational periodicals, and advises several Democratic Congressional candidates