A publicly funded democratic school in Oregon

[demian schwartz]

Hi all,

On Monday September 27th (2010) there will be a public hearing in
Pleasant Hill Oregon for a charter school based on the Sudbury Model.
If you are interested in more information- e-mail me and I'll send
flyers. If you support the school but can't make the meeting, you can
write a brief letter of support addressed to the Pleasant Hill School
Board. You can send them to me, and I'll bring a stack of them to
submit at the meeting.

Thanks all and wish us luck,

Demian

[Dennis Shaughnessy]

Thanks Demian for the information. By all means best wishes.

 

Public schools, we all fund, need change. For example Detroit public schools have a

graduation rate of around 25%, California around 66%. I believe in increasing student

empowerment and choice there. More self-education could take place like the Hole in

the Wall schools of Sugata Mitra. And access to more democratic education for all that

want it.

 

Applying the Sudbury model to public schools has problems. The Sudbury model charter

school in Cottage Grove, Oregon closed. There are problems such as mandatory testing that

limit student freedom, credentials needed that limit staff, less autonomy and thus less

power compared to private model schools. For example in hiring and firing staff.

 

I am more tolerant of less orthodox Sudbury model efforts, perhaps considering my

compromises in my present vocation. I am a jail teacher. More inmate liberty and empowerment

would improve the sense of passive hopelessness and helplessness. And be a step in the

right direction. Last century Warden Osborne even did away with guards at a self--governing

naval prison.

 

I will send an e-mail to you for the school board saying " Please let self-initiated learning and

governance be tried. Many could discover their special gift." I hope the effort will continue as a

private, if not public school. After all, the Sudbury model is a state of mind, a step toward

governing ourselves, ourselves.

 

From behind California's redwood curtain,

Dennis Shaughnessy

---

[demian schwartz]

Thank you Dennis,

I was involved with Blue Mountain and I have some counters to your arguments (although I still will want you to send a letter...)

As a public school we will have to perform state testing. I am a purist, but I want democratic education available to the masses, so this is how I justify it- They are the taxes you pay to be a citizen of our democracy. Every day you're free, but two days a year you take these tests, it is part of the choice you make when you sign up. On the first day of the private free school my son attends (that I drive 5 hours to get him to and from) everyone had to watch and participate in a 2 hour play about the rules- it wasn't torture, but it wasn't really a choice either- JC is also obligatory at Sudbury schools.

Secondly as for licensed staff- it does limit the pool, but so does making $900 a month, which is what the teachers make at my son's private free school- I can't live on that and I don't want to. I think the statistic is that 40% of newly licensed teachers quit teaching in the first two years- I think many of them are like us, and my school only needs 4 to start. Before Blue Mountain was a charter school, and staff didn't have to be licensed, we had trouble finding great staff- it's hard to find the right people. Offering a living wage and health benefits can't hurt. 

I could go on and on- but I've got a school to get open and a kid to bathe- I look forward to your letter and future conversations.

Warmly ,

Demian

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[Karen Hyams]

I've watched people debate the pure vs. diluted Sudbury school issue for a number of years now, and I do have pretty strong feelings about it, but as with most things, if you ask me and I only have a minute to answer, I have to say "it depends".

When it comes to each individual private Sudbury model school, I am in the purist camp. I don't mean to say that everyone should just replicate SVS, that that is the only way to do it, but there are some pretty basic things on which you can't compromise.

But I do think there is value in trying to translate the model to a public format, and the compromises that are going to have to be made ought to be seen in context of a wider goal. I've seen the phrase "Sudbury movement" many times over the years, and as a movement it has been slow and small. The failures have been sad, but I don't think that any of them have been a waste.

Larger-scale efforts like Blue Mountain, both when it was succeeding and when it was not, were fairly dynamic, and engaged a lot of people in the debate and process. If this is indeed a movement that is going to improve the lives of more children and change how education is perceived, it can't stay small and private forever.

You can look at each individual attempt to go public with a Sudbury school and find a million problems and say "No, this isn't going to work, it's not Sudbury, it's not worth doing." But if new Sudbury schools are going to thrive and spread, change like this has to happen. The experience will be a little or even a lot dilute for the students; I think it's really idealistic to think otherwise and have the school remain open. At some point, however, when does the dream of changing the system stop being a dream and start becoming a difficult reality?

The hard-core privates should always be there for those who can afford them and want them, and I'm not saying that Demain or anyone else should just roll over in order to make a school happen. But if I didn't have Clearwater and my kid had to go to regular school, I'd take a good-faith weakened public Sudbury school over the high school down the street any day of the week.

Karen

[demian schwartz]

Thank you Karen but I really did not mean to start a debate- I thought I was sending a note just to Dennis, but I agree with you and hope you write a letter of support to the Pleasant Hill School Board with your name and address.

Thanks,

Demian

[demian schwartz]

oops- didn't mean to send that to everyone.

D

[Karen Hyams]

I wish you luck, you are doing something really hard. If a debate gets started, you don't have to participate, you have your own things to do.

I'm contemplating a letter, figuring out what to say.

--
Every week is Scurvy Prevention Week

[Karen Hyams]

woops, my finger slipped; sorry, all. I did not mean to hit "send" before I changed the address line.