Amherst Center: A shared vision for schools

Published on June 27, 2008

As the Jere Hochman era comes to a close, and as we prepare to welcome in four new principals (three elementary, one middle school) and interim superintendents, it seems like a good time to let our new school leadership know what the people of Amherst want from their schools. The problem is, there's no agreement on exactly what that is.

There are a number of different groups, each arguing strongly for their particular vision of education. There is the social justice camp, which says we need to nurture and support the neediest members of our student body and celebrate our diversity. There is the excellence camp, saying that we need to focus more on academic rigor and challenge for all kids. There is the back-to-basics camp that says our schools cost too much. And the "teach peace, not math" folks. And then there are the teachers and administrators themselves, who must wonder how there can be so many educational experts outside the school walls, saying "you're doing it wrong."

Yes, there's plenty of talk about the schools these days. Citizens of Amherst ("where only the h' is silent" - T-shirt available at Hastings) are famously good at talking. But listening? Not so much.

So where is the common ground regarding our schools? How do we describe what we all want our schools to be?

Dr. Hochman uses a simple phrase to describe the schools' mission: "Every child, every day." It's useful in its simplicity: teach to each child's individual needs, all the time; no one-size-fits-all education. But to get at the details of how we do that - what we teach, and how, and what it costs to do it right - we need to do a little less talking and a lot more listening.

Everyone has a stake in our public schools, and therefore everyone needs to be a part of this "active listening." Parents need to look outside the limited portal of their own child's experience, and listen to the experiences and needs of other children, which are probably different than their own. Taxpayers whose children graduated years ago need to update their understanding of what is going on in education today and listen to what "the kids" in our schools face now. Educators immersed in day-to-day teaching need to take a moment and join in the discussion on education in the broader community; they might find they have a great deal to offer and to gain.

Maybe if we all really work at seeing things from each other's perspectives, if we really listen to each other, we can arrive at a shared and comprehensive vision of both what's really good about our schools and where we want to go from here to make them even better.

Parents focused on high academic standards can certainly agree that some children will need extra help and tailored educational offerings to achieve them. Social justice advocates can certainly agree that one of the key measures of a just school system is high academic performance and challenge for all children including the most disadvantaged. And excellent teachers can certainly agree that they should demand the same high level of performance from their colleagues that they demand from themselves. There's a shared vision in there somewhere - we just have to listen hard enough to find it.

The time is right for a real conversation in town about what Amherst wants its schools to be. Perhaps the School Committee can use the superintendent search process as a vehicle for this conversation, seeking input from a wide variety of town perspectives. Too much is at stake. We can't let the occasional disappointment turn us all into overly negative Eeyores. As an elementary school parent put it recently, "The glass is always half-empty in this town."

We see things differently. We see an extraordinary combination of academic achievement and diversity in our schools. We send high numbers of graduates to college, including exclusive private ones, at the same time that we have diversity numbers similar to some urban districts (more than 30 languages spoken, etc). Our high school is probably the best in western Massachusetts. We offer instrumental music starting in third grade, and six languages starting in middle school. Our Mark's Meadow Elementary School was the top-scoring of 900-plus schools in the state on the fifth-grade math and science MCAS last year. The list goes on and on.

Truly our educational glass is way more than half-full. Working together, we can fill it all the way up to the brim. But first we need to listen, truly listen to each other.

Let's meet in the center and do just that.

Amherst Center is a monthly column which appears in The Amherst Bulletin that seeks to portray local issues from a centrist perspective. It is written by Town Meeting members Baer Tierkel and Clare Bertrand and School Committee member Andy Churchill. Amherst Center appears in The Amherst Bulletin on the last Friday of each month.