On this route I would be careful. During are Welfare Reform stage
Republican's were expounding the vitues of community based approaches as an
alternative or apposition to federal programs, but what they failed to
realize is most community based programs including religious ones have
strong if not a majority of financial support. Likewise in my district
there are interesting programs which on the surface can appear as
alternatives to public schooling, but again, on closer look most of these
programs are heavily funded via public schooling.
Some of the most interesting approaches I have seem are cooperative rather
than centralized arrangements in which public education has a role but
isn't the whole game. On particular program has achived national success
and it is designed on a variety of programs health, economic assistance,
social services, education, childcare etc. being accessible in pods
throughout the city. These programs have strong grass roots support as
well as public/private partnership. Most of these community centers are
not in direct competition with public education but works cooperatively
with it including having reps from community centers hired as school/home
liasons. We currently have a revultionary school in one of our "worst"
neighborhoods which publishes its own paper known as the Simpson Street
Gazaette. Should we model public education by such a program, we can't,
the program is public education.
> 8. I think and hope we are at the edge of developing alternative
approaches
> to public education that emphasize notions of negation, participation,
> diversity, mutuality, power, respect, critical discourse and acting,
> inclusion, community, practice, and freedom.
>
Maybe we should talk of what public education should be rather than setting
up something appossitional to it. My understanding of the 5th D sites on
one level they were based on partnerships between Universities, Afterschool
programs public schools etc rather than as competitors to such agenicies.
Most community based approaches are set up as complementary extensions of
public education rather than alternatives themselves. They are not
designed nor should they be to replace public education itself. One
community agency which I spent last summer vollunteering had many such
programs including some of the more critical components you mention,
donated computers from local businesses, recreational activities and summer
school through the public schools. While some conservatives see these
community arrangements as a political alternative to the state or public
schooling this is very far from the truth. If we see them as appositional
we are likely to end up dismantleing these very good programs. This was
very obvious with the welfare reform in our state. The argument was the
community centers would meet the needs of the poor. Ironically they lacked
staff to meet those needs because those lazy people on welfare were the
backbone of the community centers. I think we need to seperate public
education as a social construct and what it is materialistically. The
social construct of public education implies something marginilizing,
impersonal etc. but public education materistically is actively involved in
many of the community programs that are seen appositional to it. I realize
Wisconsin maybe is unique in this regard, but I wouldn't be surprized if
you saw the stamp of public education behind many of the more community
approaches.
Nate