Mike Rose

The Forum’s work is that of a ‘reality based’ policy think tank concerned with educational policy that will support strong public schools.  We have many friends in that work, and one of them is Mike Rose.  In case you haven’t met him, we thought we would introduce you to his work in this week’s newsletter.

Mike has taken the time to meet and talk to young people for whom our public schools make an amazing difference in their lives.  In his book, Possible Lives (just out reissued with a new Preface) Rose takes us into schools that change the lives of young people, and it is well worth a read.

I know many of the children Mike Rose has written about in both Possible Lives and Lives on the Boundary.  That is because kids just like them walk through the doorway of my middle and high school every day.  While they may not always appreciate it, when they come through those doors they are entering the one place in American life that has not yet given up on them.

The figures are grim.  On May 13th the Columbus Dispatch reported this about my fellow Ohioans:

• 13 percent of Ohioans now live below the federal poverty level -- $17,600 a year for a family of three.
• One in 10 Ohioans relies on food stamps.
• Half the babies born in Ohio receive cereal and nutritional services through the Women, Infants and Children Program.
• More than a third of schoolchildren are on the federal free and reduced-price lunch program.
• 1.3 million Ohioans have no health insurance.

Add to this the fact that Ohio now ranks 40th in the nation when it comes to school finance equity according to the New America Foundation: Federal Education Budget Project's analysis.

And yet, schools like mine and so many others across the nation carry on, fighting for the very lives of the children and families we serve.  Mike Rose tells the story of these schools and their teachers, and his portraits are a welcome antidote to the norm drum beat of media stories about ‘failing’ schools.

In ‘Democracy At Risk’ The Forum points out that nations where all children do well in school are also nations that attend to the general welfare of all children, work to limit inequitable school funding, and support well prepared teachers.  In short, we propose a federal policy that would create more stories like the ones Mike Rose tells.

We are fortunate to have a voice like Mike’s speaking on behalf of the schools we want for every child in every community.  If you want to know more, visit Mike’s web site and while you are there, check out his blog and join the conversation.