Left Behind

Question: What is the difference between ignorance and apathy? Answer: I don't know and I don't care.

In the movie We Were Soldiers, Lt Col Hal Moore was getting ready to take a group of young men into battle. This was historic, as it marked the first time the United States was going to be in a major battle in the Viet Nam War. Prior to entering the battlefield, Lt Col Moore told his troops the following: [sic] "You have my word on this - I will be the first one to put my feet on the battlefield, and the last one to leave. In addition, alive, dead or wounded, I will leave no man behind. We will all leave together".

Today, we have become very good at leaving some behind. Not on the battlefield, but in the classroom. I am going to say this as clearly as I can, so it might offend some. Our education system today stinks. It is so overdue for an overhaul. Our achievement gap keeps growing and most seemed flummoxed on how to fix it. I said most, not all. Yesterday, I visited a school in the center of the city, in the center of where there are problems that could easily derail solid learning. It is a school run by, and administered by educational iconoclasts. It is a school where success is not just an aspiration, through hard work, dedication and love, it is a fact of life.

A man I knew years ago was a science teacher in a middle school in the city. He was burned out by the system and the lack of cooperation from many of the parents. Towards the end of his career, he would address the class on the first day of instruction: "If you are interested in learning, sit up front. If you are not, sit in the back and try not to be disruptive to the others". Many went to the back of the room and ended up failing for the year. Nobody cared - not the student, not the parent and not the teacher. Many were lower income, minority students. The broken system made more broken students who became part of the achievement gap.

Now think of a school which practices just the opposite. This was the school I visited yesterday. Everyone, from the teachers, to the students, to the parents, to the community had buy in. Failure truly is not tolerated by the students nor the staff. The sweet taste of success has been experienced by many of the students for the first time. The curriculum is stiff and the work is long and hard. However, each and everyone of the students drink in the learning like water on a hot day. Even with a challenging curriculum, the graduation rate is 100%. The vast majority of the graduates go to college or accepted into the Armed Forces.

In these days of confusion, wasteful spending and failure in our nation's education system, it is refreshing to come across an educational oasis such as this. For those who have not guessed it, this school is part of the Cristo Rey network. In this network, both apathy and ignorance are unwanted and unwelcomed. In this network, unlike the Federal program which shares the name, no child gets left behind. For those who think there is no hope, ask for a tour of a Cristo Rey school. It will give hope to the hopeless on how we educate our young and thereby build our future.