Learning From Chile? (country, not the food)
What happens when over a million students stand up to demand that their government address resource shortages, policy problems, and widespread inequalities in their public education system?
In Chile, the result was $200 million dollars to repair dilapidated schools, permanent youth representation in the form of twelve student seats on a national education reform panel, and other benefits like improved school lunch programs and free entrance exams to get into college. Student leaders in Chile mobilized rapidly in response to growing concern about the lip-service being paid to youth issues, and the result—a million students walking out of their run-down schools for three weeks until the newly elected President agreed to take action as demanded by the students—was an unprecedented victory for young people & the future of Chile.
In the United States, the problems plaguing our education system remain every bit as pressing: nearly 20,000 school buildings have facilities in “inadequate” condition; two-thirds of our students cannot read at grade level proficiency; more than a million students drop out of high school each year; and pernicious inequality persists along geographic, racial, and financial lines. But until now, students have done precious little in response to these systemic failures and failures on the part of elected officials to improve things.
Thankfully, students in America—young people just like you—are beginning to take the future into their own hands. Through Our Education, a national youth movement is building to demand high quality public education be guaranteed to every American child. You can learn more and sign their petition here.
But just like in Chile, if this effort is to succeed and we are to win real improvements in our schools, students like YOU will have to become LEADERS and not just ordinary members of the movement. We’ll need students like you to spread the word about the petition and get it signed by your student body. Then we’ll need students like you to take the lead in debating and passing a first-ever “Students Bill of Rights” in 2007. And we’ll need students like you to continue to put pressure on our leaders to make our education a national priority.
Interested in being one of these student leaders? E-mail info@oured.org for more information on leading an Our Education petition drive at your school in the fall. With just a few hours of your time, you can play a critical role in getting the word out about this campaign. If you need service hours for graduation or anything else at your school, this would be a great way to get them!
If someone had asked you what we could learn from Chile’s students four months ago, you probably wouldn’t have had much to say (Spanish maybe?). But if you were asked that question today, the answer would be everything: how to rise up and demand what is best for young people and what is best for our nation; how to build a massive movement among our peers, encouraging friends and strangers alike to stand together so that all of us can have better opportunities; in short, how to make a difference in the world around us. Together, we can show that we’ve learned this lesson – and the result will be a first-rate education system that all of us can be proud of.