"Because more than 70 percent of households do not have children in public school, the school district needs to communicate its vision and student achievement goals very clearly to taxpayers and the community as a whole to ensure their support. Without this information, the public's perspective and support can be skewed by the anecdotes and advocacy of others who themselves may not have the entire picture. By contrast, comprehensive information from the school district is likely both to increase support for school budgets and to improve the chances of attracting the involvement of businesses and others in school activities."

As true today as when Bracey and Resnick carefully wrote these words ten years ago. They say responsibility for communication rests with school boards.

Jonathan Kozol spoke at Mount Saint Mary College in August. Here's a quote, via the Mid-Hudson News Network:

"The greatest difficulty that these young teachers face is the testing-mania, the madness of repeated obsessive testing, that the White House has forced upon our public schools under the law called No Child Left Behind, which is probably the worst, most destructive piece of education legislation that I have seen in my entire lifetime," he said.

Bush, July 2007:

The economy is going to demand brain power as we head into the 21st century, and therefore now is the time to make sure our 4th graders can read, write, and add and subtract, and our 8th graders are more proficient in math, and when you graduate from high school, your diploma means something. And the best place to start is to measure.

Jefferson, 1810:

I have indeed two great measures at heart, without which no republic can maintain its strength. 1. That of general education, to enable every man to judge for himself what will secure or endanger his freedom. 2. To divide every county into hundreds, of such size that all the children of each will be in reach of a central school in it.

"The most effective change is wielded by those who do not expect to create or manipulate a closed system, but instead recognize that effective change takes place in open systems, where the accumulation of collaborative actions generates unexpected harmony." --James O'Donnell