Who is the Educator? The One Who Takes Responsibility.
Twenty years ago Delanie Easton, an Oaklander who was running for the position of Superintendent of Schools for the State of California said to a room of a thousand people: “If someone asked me, ‘Delanie, which would you rather have: one million dollars or one hour of parent involvement?’ I would say ‘One hour of parent involvement!’”
Really, Delanie? Not me.
I mean, parent involvement is good, but in a school, teachers are responsible for what kids learn, how they treat one another, and whether or not they love to go to school. Come to think of it, who is responsible for creating the conditions in which a parent would want to get involved? Think what one could do with $1,000,000. Think of the teacher salaries. Think of the student/teacher ratio.
But it was 1991, and it was California.
Five months ago, educators, parents and community leaders gathered in Decatur to talk about education at a
