There is a broad consensus that access to a quality education is a fundamental human right. This consensus is reflected in the fact that every individual within our boundaries, regardless of race, ethnic background, nation of origin, or ability to pay, is entitled to a seat in a classroom from kindergarten through grade 12. However, the education that children actually receive varies dramatically by those very factors which are supposed to be immaterial. There is real hope though, as a new crop of leaders and entrepreneurs is applying solutions that range from the systemic to the technocratic to move us from a standard of universal class time to universal high quality education.
Some of these solutions are implementations of age old ideas—bringing the best and brightest to the teaching force through increased wages and recruitment—while others focus new research on the physiology of effective learning. Some solutions take aim at cutting away the web of obstacles to education that poverty presents, while others place an emphasis on vouchers and high-stakes testing as a means of creating an open and accountable education market. There are organizations and individuals that focus on the earliest years of education, while others see preventing dropout as the key challenge.
The pervasiveness of the problem, and the disagreement over the solutions, could easily be a recipe for inaction. And, yet, this new generation has waded, waist-deep, into the muddy waters of the debate, piloting new ideas while fighting to bring public and private dollars to the solutions that have proved successful, like improved parental supports. Indeed, it is an exciting time for our children and our collective future.
