We need more public-private school partnerships like this

by David Safier

In rural West Virginia, the American Federation of Teachers (yes, the AFT, that evil organization which is only interested in making its lazy teachers rich [he said, sarcastically]) is spearheading a five year, public-private partnership it calls "Reconnecting McDowell." "McDowell" refers to McDowell County, an area ravaged by the poverty, unemployment and drug addiction.

The AFT union will organize a five-year project it calls "Reconnecting McDowell," [AFT President Randi] Weingarten said. More than 40 businesses, nonprofit organizations and national and state level groups and leaders have marshaled resources to tackle poverty, technology and transportation problems in McDowell County that contribute to the region's education crisis.

The initiative acknowledges the too often overlooked fact, it takes more than a school to educate a child.

"There are issues in McDowell that go beyond the school system and get to ingrained cultural feelings about education and a number of economic problems. If we're going to fix McDowell, it's going to take an army," said Manchin, wife of Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va.

The efforts are just beginning, so there's no way of knowing how much money and support will flow in or what direction the efforts will take. But it's a move in the right direction.

Conservative "education reformers" insist all it takes is excellent teachers. Don't worry about the communities or homes children come from. Unfortunately, the Obama administration decided to lean in that direction. As Republicans clamor to cut programs for lower income children and families, the White House should be focusing on how these efforts are harming the educational opportunities of the next generation of children, but it has lost the ability to hammer home that message.

Anybody see "Waiting for Superman," the film that slammed our school systems and the unions and talked up the glory of charter schools? One of three examples used in the film to show the way it's supposed to be was the Harlem Children's Zone. Interestingly, that school is being cited as a model for what they're trying to do in West Virginia. See, Harlem's Children's Zone, which spends more than twice as much per student as New York's district schools, offers all kinds of social services for its students and their families. It contradicts two of the most sacred conservative educational tenets: that we can educate children for less, and we can ignore their economic and social situations. And yet, the school is the darling of the right, which never lets facts get in the way of a good story.