In reading Liam's post about idealists being chewed up by the DC culture of inertia and status quo I couldn't help but think of the brilliant Ralph Waldo Emerson quote, ???Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising up every time we fail.??? For any earnest school reformer this quote epitomizes what we do.
Speaking personally, in Dayton, Ohio???a city that has seen its people, industry and wealth steadily migrate elsewhere over the last few decades???I have been involved in launching charter schools with great hope to only see them crash and burn. I've helped to advocate for big ideas to get the local school district to create a portfolio approach to school management that would invite charters in as equal partners and scale up successful district schools. It seemed an obvious win-win for all, but died at birth to the clutches of institutional interests. I was quoted in a front-page story in the Cincinnati Enquirer blathering about??a school leader that ???he is a role model for charter schools across the state.??? Less than two years later the man I lauded was heading off to prison for stealing money from his school.
[pullquote]'Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising up every time we fail.' For any honest school reformer this quote epitomizes what we do.[/pullquote]
In fact, I've become expert at writing obituaries for failed organizations and have been the spokesperson for not only failed schools but also failed entities that support failed schools!
I don't think my experiences are all that unique for school reformers who work in the trenches of urban education. I think such failures are actually the norm. Far rarer are the great successes like KIPP, Teach For America, the Massachusetts' Miracle, and Uncommon Schools (and I've been honored to be a part of some important reforms in Ohio that have succeeded??over the past decade). That doesn't mean we should give up or become cynical as school reformers. Rather we need to brush ourselves off after each failure, learn from it, and keep trying to make a difference. School reform is not a sprint but a long, painful marathon and our gains come incrementally and sometimes unexpectedly. This is enough to instill ???Hope??? for me. Realism need not crush idealism, just extend the timeline for it.
???Terry Ryan
