School board members must be advocates for children and public education

By Mossi W. White

4/23/02 – Access to an excellent education is one of the greatest gifts we can give a child, and this is a gift we must give to all children.

This is my philosophy, and this is one of the messages I will emphasize during my year as president of NSBA.

My love of education was fostered by my Norwegian grandmother who learned during World War II that one could lose absolutely everything, totally arbitrarily and in a matter of seconds.

She wisely impressed upon me the idea that knowledge is the lightest load you can ever carry and it is the one thing that cannot ever be taken away from you.

Right now, the nation's focus on education has been sharpened by the President's theme for education reform–"no child left behind"–and the passage of the new law bearing this name. And yet, every day, thousands of children are being left behind.

That is unacceptable and must stop. We, you, and I are responsible to put a stop to it. And we must work to stop the attacks on public education.

Public education is under siege. Powerful special interest groups with agendas that have nothing to do with what's good for all children are trying to dismantle the very system that made this country the most powerful nation on earth.

Public education has not failed. Public education has done a fantastic job; there is, however, always need for improvement.

We must fix what needs fixing and strengthen our system of public education for all children.

Our nation put a man on the moon when we decided it was important. It is time we decide as a nation that the education of all our children deserves that same kind of effort and resources.

Another lesson I learned from my grandmother is the importance of "love gifts." These are gifts that one treasures the most, that truly enrich one's life, and that bless the recipient as well as the giver.

Love gifts can be the most simple thing, like a smile, a hug, a compliment, a thank you note, or a dandelion offered by a child.

School board members can give love gifts, too. These are gifts that will bless and improve the lives of the children in our school districts.

One example of such a gift that will have an enormous impact is the gift of being an advocate for children.

I have often heard the phrase to "sit on the board of education." The time for sitting is over. It is time to stand up for public education. We must, at all times–and in all places–stand as the most passionate, articulate advocates for public education.

We must give the public clear and factual data, describing our accomplishments, as well as our challenges.

Every fall we open our schools to all children equally: the brilliant and the struggling, children who speak English and those who do not, children who are loved, and those who have never been hugged or been told a bedtime story, children whose lives are filled with joy and sunshine, and those for whom school is an escape from places so dark we can't comprehend them.

We must be advocates for all these children. And we must recognize that for some of them, we are the only advocates they have.

Individually, we can make a difference. United, all 95,000 school board members across the nation are effective advocates for all children. We can make miracles happen.

Another love gift is leadership. Each board member must ask a sobering question: "Are the children in my community better off because I am on the board of education?" The answer must be Yes.

One way we can provide strong leadership is by implementing NSBA's Key Work of School Boards. This is a blueprint for uniting our communities around our goal to raise student achievement for all children.

After the horrors of Sept. 11, we discovered that the American spirit is alive and well.

This country was founded and built by people who had hopes and dreams and for whom failure was never an option. They succeeded, and our nation became a beacon of hope for people all over the world.

Today, this country's sons and daughters in our armed forces are once again put in harm's way to preserve our ideals and freedoms.

We also have a big part to play in this effort. We must preserve our nation's education system.

This must continue to be a place where all children can have hopes and dreams and all of them can attain their dreams.

As school board members, you can make a difference for our children–and for our nation's future.

You can bring love gifts in abundance to our children. You have the power, the opportunity, the ability, and the gifts to improve children's lives and help preserve the greatness of this country.