Today's Children Tomorrow's Future (R) (www.usa-positive-expectations.com)

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Saturday, May 14, 2005

We expect schools and government to work together

Dear Editor:
Please consider as a counter point. This will be posted to a citizen's league forum and www.usavalues.blogspot.com

February 10, 2005
Dear Senator Hann:
Regarding your commentary date 2-8-2005 regarding Education Access Grants
If you and public education could agree on the positive messages to send children you might, together, set the foundation for agreeing on what is next in education for the children. Certainly a public fight is not going to resolve the merits of vouchers, charters, public schools or other choices for children. Effective citizens expect you and education to provide positive agreement on our strengths and positive steps to align public education with public requirements. It strikes me that there would be fewer battles for vouchers and charters and choices if there were no basic differences in the opportunity created for 100% of the children in public or private education.

Might the real fix be to get back to the point where 100% of the children have an equal opportunity to learn, say at age 3, when they are starting their sensitive period to learning language, order, spaces, practical life and joy in doing. And, at least, to start, make certain, with authority, that the child does not have their sensitive period to learning language wasted by adult neglect before they enter kindergarten. So, at least, 100% of the children start kindergarten with equal ready to read ability.

I guess, truth be told, there never was this point in our history to get back to. Working together to grow is tough. We would’t be trying to make our jobs simple and easy by dividing and conquering, would we? The public and private sector wants total growth. Covey said something about win-win that is relevant to everybody’s effectiveness at the end of the day or decade. Divide and conquer is acceptable practice in the private sector, but with kids, in the public sector, - many like me expect more!

Our society will not be able to find others to do this togetherness for us. It is your obligation to give us something that makes one and one equal more than two. We pay public government and public education to sort our degrees of positive, and actualize them, to give us year after year growth in total results. Many can see segmenting as a one-size-fit-one solution but show us the growth in total results. Honestly, I just wish we were working on the right first thing first so this debate would go away with the success of fixing the real problem.
Sincerely,
Tom Wolfgram
Executive Director
USA VALUES - CDP Phone 507-452-2658
Character Development Program Fax 507-452-2202102
Walnut Street Twin Cities phone 763-550-0769
Winona, Minnesota 55987
twolfgram@wcprinting.com
(A 501 (c) (3) company)

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