Education for all is one of America’s greatest gifts.

One of America’s greatest gifts is the idea of a free and rigorous public education for all our children regardless of circumstances.  Each state in our vast country has adopted rigorous academic standards that are the expectation for all students to master.

As we have grown as a nation, we have expanded who is welcomed in our schools to include all students regardless of race or ethnicity, creed, language spoken, economic status, or disability.  What an awe-inspiring vision: a rigorous education for all. This vision, when achieved, will be one of the greatest gifts we can give our children and our country.  Image, a nation where everyone is highly educated and able to productively contribute to the stability, growth, and welfare of our country and its people. 

The vision of a rigorous and free public education for every student is not yet reality. Thousands of educators work tirelessly each day, striving to achieve this vision.  Despite their herculean efforts, we still have thousands of students in every state that have not master these rigorous standards.  It is not the students’ fault, the educators’ fault, or their parents’ fault.  It is that our system is not currently set up to achieve this goal.  We continue to rely on an outdated system that is set up to educate some students to high levels while marginalizing others and providing them only with the most minimalist education.

So, in this season of giving, let’s give to our children and our country’s future the redesign of our educational system that is needed so that all students are educated to the highest levels.  We must expect and demand the best education for each and every student, not just our own children. 

As parents and grandparents with some means, we navigate the educational system to ensure our children are enrolled in the schools that are able to provide all that they need for achieving a rigorous education: all students reading on grade level, rigorous mathematics classes for all, science labs, sophisticated art and technology programs, advanced classes in high school to earn college credit early, …… and the list goes on. In addition, as the parents and grandparents with privilege we ensure our children are well housed, clothed, and fed.  We provide the mental health support they need when life happens as it does. If anything challenges the delivery of the best education possible to our children, we take action and let our demands be known.

However, do we take action on behalf of the children in our community who attend schools with many children reading below grade level, students tracked into basic classes and denied rigorous mathematics and advanced placement classes, and with facilities that are outdated and decaying. Do we raise our voices for the many children who struggle without mental health support, or cope with ever-present hunger or substandard housing issues that keep them from focusing on learning to the highest levels.

Do we support the political debate and taxes needed to change this?  Do we demand our leaders provide additional support to these marginalized students so that they too achieve at high levels? Do we use our privilege to demand that these unseen students are provided whatever it takes for them to achieve at high levels? Tis the season of giving.  To whom are you giving this year?

This blog is written by Dr. GwenCarol Holmes, a long-time educator and passionate advocate for all students mastering rigorous standards.