Failure Is NOT An Educational Option
Many educators would intuitively agree: Failure is not an option for today's students-at least not one we would conceivably choose. Although clearly students may fail, and indeed many do, the consequences are generally too dire to allow for such an option (Springfield , 1995). Students who don't make it through high school earn substantially less in wages (Springfield, 1995) and have far greater rates of incarceration and drug abuse than do their peers (Woods, 2000).
Rosa Smith, former superintendent of the Columbus, Ohio, schools, had an epiphany one morning when she read some statistics about the U.S. prison population. Some 75% of the prison population, she found, is Latino or African-American, and 80% are functionally illiterate. She felt a new sense of purpose: Her work was no longer about teaching math or science, but about saving lives!
The ability to articulate such a clear and compelling message to all educational stakeholders-inside and outside of the school building-is the beginning of defining what Michael Fullan (2001a) refers to as "moral purpose." Leaders who tap this clear sense of purpose in themselves and others are addressing the beginning of what we refer to in this book as the Courageous Leadership Imperative.
Many leaders have yet to discover their moral purpose or develop their courageous leadership abilities. One former superintendent, Rick DuFour, recounts his reaction to a superintendent who challenged the importance of educating all children to high standards. The superintendent told DuFour, "This isn't brain surgery. No one is going to die here! Some kids advance a little, some a lot. Isn't that the way it goes?" DuFour retorted that this cavalier attitude reminds him of a little office building he once saw in a small town. On the office door were posted two signs: "Veterinarian" and "Taxidermist." Underneath was printed these words: "Either way you get your dog back!"
Failure is not an option for public schooling, either.
Leaders in Western society have long articulated the close tie between a strong public education system and democracy itself (Dewey, 1927; Glickman, 2003; Goodlad, 2001; Putnam, 2000; Putnam, Leonardi, & Nanetti, 1993). Schools are clearly for the common good, and they serve as the gateway to, and potential equalizer for, economic and life success for millions of under-served children.
As Michael Fullan states, "A high-quality public school system is essential, not only for parents who send their children to these schools but also for the public good as a whole" (2003a, p. 4). Failure is no more an option for the institution of public education than it is for the children within that institution (Glickman, 2003; Goodlad, 2001).
Yet we have seen countless threats to public schools in recent years. They include the rise of vouchers-even for religious schools (Walsh, 2002)-as well as the concerted entry of large, for-profit corporations into the public education arena. Moreoever, it oftens appears that public policy itself is harmful to public education. Although public officials call for "leaving no child behind," they rarely accompany that call with adequate resources to meet the challenge. A greater level of courage and commitment are needed now-more than ever before, it seems-to meet these and other grave challenges.
This article provided from "Failure Is Not an Option" by Alan M. Blankstein