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Committing to the Classroom

Dear Fellow Alumni,

Back in March, I listened intently to President Obama’s big education speech.

“What’s at stake is nothing less than the American Dream,” the president said. “It’s what drew my father and so many of your fathers and mothers to our shores in pursuit of an education.… It’s that most American of ideas, that with the right education, a child of any race, any faith, any station, can overcome whatever barriers stand in their way and fulfill their Godgiven potential.”

I thought, here is a man who understands the urgency
and the stakes, who holds the belief that all children can and deserve to achieve at the highest levels. And then there was the number: a mind-boggling $100 billion for education. With that kind of money, and real political will behind it, I wondered, could this be a turning point for American education?

Yet a few days after the speech—reading op-eds, talking
with friends—my excitement was tempered. Certainly, this is not the first time we’ve heard an administration talk of bold changes in our education system. Money and words alone will not reform education. How would this president, this moment, be different? How could we make it different?

For this issue’s cover story (p. 14), I interviewed Jon Schnur, who was on leave from his CEO position at New Leaders for New Schools to serve as senior advisor to Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. Schnur is no stranger to the challenges of scaling a reform-focused enterprise. I asked him what he felt was the biggest barrier to reforming education. Public attitude, he answered. “There still are too many people in the country who do not believe that kids in
poverty can achieve at high levels, and do not have a sense of confidence about the strategies that we can take as adults to deliver on our kids’ potential.”

Changing the public attitude—sometimes a product of long-held prejudices or a lack of awareness—can be incredibly tough, but it’s also inspiring to think that each of us can
actually make an impact on this challenge. Whether it’s showing what is possible for kids in low-income communities by leading a classroom, a school, or even just a conversation
with friends, family, or colleagues, each of us has a role to play in shifting the public mind-set.

Sometimes that shift can happen through the power of just one story. Here’s one to consider: In the Rio Grande Valley, where just 11 percent of adults hold a college degree, IDEA Public Schools—a network of 12 schools serving more than 5,000 children in the poorest counties in the United States—has seen 100 percent of its graduates go on to college. U.S. News & World Report ranked IDEA’s flagship campus, led by Jeremy Beard (L.A. ’95), the 19th-best high school in the nation. Beard, along with IDEA founders Tom Torkelson and JoAnn Gonzales (both R.G.V. ’97) recently received the Peter Jennings Award for Civic Leadership (p. 12), Teach For America’s highest alumni honor.

“These kids are living in the poorest communities in the United States,” Beard says. “If this can be done here, everyone should be able to do it.” If the public attitude can shift to embrace this idea, it may be the difference in whether this president’s words will turn out to be platitudes or prophecy.

Warm regards,

Ting Yu

N.Y.C. '03

Editor in Chief