[Ohiogift] Fwd: "The perfect is the enemy of the good"-not really-satisfaction with the good (possibly the mediocre) is the enemy of the perfect

[Ann Sheldon]

Love this subject line, but I would change. Satisfaction with the mediocre or poor is destroying our future. 

Sent from my iPhone

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Ohio E & A <ohioeanda at sbcglobal.net>
> Date: September 18, 2013 7:07:14 AM EDT
> To: anngift at aol.com
> Subject: "The perfect is the enemy of the good"-not really-satisfaction with the good (possibly the mediocre) is the enemy of the perfect
> Reply-To: ohioeanda at sbcglobal.net
> 

> 
> 
> 
> "The perfect is the enemy of the good"-not really-satisfaction with the good (possibly the mediocre) is the enemy of the perfect
>  
> 9/18/2013
>  
> A few years ago, a state legislator, while working earnestly on a school funding plan in response to the DeRolph decisions, was heard to say, "The perfect is the enemy of the good." The implication seemed to be that seeking perfection or completeness in school funding and educational programming will somehow mitigate against the implementation of a "good" system. Unfortunately, for many state officials "good" seems to characterize what is in place at any given time.
>  
> A delegate to the 1850 and 1851 Constitutional Convention was quoted as saying he wanted a common school system "as perfect as can be devised"; hence, the goal of the state should be to develop a complete, ideal, entire, thorough, efficient, and effective system of public common schools.
>  
> Accepting the "good" may be an excuse for being satisfied with a mediocre system.
>  
> In a very adverse decision in 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that American children do not have a fundamental right to a high quality education. Later in 1979, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled in a very curious decision that the inadequate and inequitable Ohio public common school system was a result, of a strong tradition of local control, and thus the Court ruled the system constitutional. The Court seemed to be satisfied with the "good" which was, at best, mediocre or egregiously inadequate and inequitable.
>  
> An Ohio Senate President in response to the DeRolph III decision publicly stated that the state didn't have any money; therefore, he said, the Court has a problem. Later another Senate President said privately that there was a school funding problem "when I came here and there will be one when I leave." It seems that these legislative leaders were satisfied with the "imperfect" system that provides education for Ohio's children.
>  
> While the DeRolph school funding case was moving through the Ohio judiciary, some state officials initiated a stealthy movement to remove funds and students from Ohio school districts and thus from the jurisdiction of boards of education.
>  
> When this covert affair was challenged, the rhetoric came forth that kids had to be rescued from the "failing public school system", that competition would improve the public school system and that parents have the inalienable right to choose alternative education venues at public expense.
>  
> This sly, shifty movement has been catapulted into a billion dollar experiment that has failed to achieve the snake oil predictions of success. Essentially, the choice movement, for the most part, has been a failure but some state officials continue to promote it with zeal to the detriment of the public common schools.
>  
> The state's refusal to enact statutes and policies that will bring transparency and accountability to the choice movement illustrates the state's satisfaction with a perception that the "good" (failing charter schools) is acceptable public policy.
>  
> Ohio citizens, if given the facts, will make the right decision. It is up to the public education community and concerned citizens to lay out the facts. The Ohio Constitution requires the state to secure a common school system that is as perfect as can be devised. The perfect is not the enemy of the good. Ohioans should goad their political representatives to reject the notion of "good", i.e. mediocre, and strive enthusiastically for the perfect in education via the public common school system.
> 
> 
> William Phillis
> Ohio E & A 
> 
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