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Encouraging Heroes. You can be one too.

I was recently sent a copy of the book Renewal by Harold Kwalwasser. The book lays out a very detailed analysis of our current public school system. Discussed are the teachers, students, parents, and administration as well as state and federal governments. It’s not the easiest read in the world, but wow. It’s the most balanced and detailed analysis I’ve ever seen and I agree with 99% of it.

I know I’m a homeschooler, but I grew up going to public school. I went to a public college and became a public school teacher, a job I held for 8 years. The only reason I quit was getting pregnant with twins and then falling in love with being an at-home mom. Otherwise I’d likely still be there.

All that to say that I feel fairly well qualified to understand Mr. Kwalwasser’s book. And now that I’m the parent of a public school student (soon to be 2 of them), I’m getting even more experience. 🙂

The author toured some of the best school districts in the US and did extensive interviews with superintendents as well as teachers and board members. The book is extremely well documented, with pages of footnotes at the end of each chapter. Solutions offered are comprehensive and sweeping.

And they could actually work.

The thing is, in order to work there will need to be a lot of support and change from all of us. Parents, teachers, administrators, and politicians need to truly work to effect change and improvement. One of the facets of the plan I respect the most is the flexibility: the best school districts are going to reflect the needs and wants of local communities.

If you know a teacher, principal, administrator, board member, or superintendent, you should recommend this book. I know I’ll be doing that here locally.

FTC Disclosure: the publisher sent me a free copy of this book. I plan to give it to a school employee soon.

Earnest Parenting: help for parents who want the best public schools.

Image courtesy of Robb North via Creative Commons license, some rights reserved.