Aesthetic Realism in the Press |
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Home page: Aesthetic Realism in the Press | Education | The Economy | Racism | Art & Life | Love & Family | War & Peace | More
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| I read online the article
"Political tension led to school takeover" (Inquirer, Dec. 23) about
the reason Philadelphia public schools will be taken over by the state
only to be given to the for-profit company, Edison Schools Inc. I agree
with Michael Churchill, who states, "This is not going to solve the problems
of the school district, but perpetuate them. It is not going to bring new
resources in terms of teachers or smaller class sizes; it will merely continue
the current underfunding."
As a New York City teacher, I am concerned with the state of public education. At this time, I am glad to be able to ask the important question I think all educators should ask. I have learned it from Aesthetic Realism, the education founded by the great educator and economist, Eli Siegel: "What does a person deserve by being a person?" To answer this question truly, we have to ask and answer what we should be fighting for and what we should be fighting against. I believe the biggest things educators should be fighting against are vouchers, merit pay and privatization of parts of the public school system by those whose collective aim is the elimination of public education. Behind the claims about efficiency, choice and accountability, some say privatization would bring the ugly notion that only a select few are entitled to education while many should stay ignorant. In the international journal The Right of Aesthetic Realism to Be Known #1391, Ellen Reiss, the Class Chairman of Aesthetic Realism, explains clearly the drive behind the current push to privatize public schools: "The existence of public education arose from respect for people: the understanding that knowledge is a human right, and that the means to it — the schools — should belong to everybody. The effort to make education more 'private,' to undo public education by withholding appropriate funds for it, is monumental contempt." No matter what the disguise, it shows utter contempt for teachers and students for certain people to profit from the money set aside for public education. We need to fight passionately for what every teacher and student deserves: educational and economic justice. Avi Gvili
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