Credo: Jeanne Allen
By: Leah Fabel
Examiner Staff Writer
November 8, 2009
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| (Andrew Harnik/Examiner) |
President Obama called on states and school districts this week to embrace school reform. But for veteran reformer Jeanne Allen, the talk isn't quite good enough. "The president and his education secretary are, too often, giving states credit for talking about charter schools rather than actually changing laws to improve the likelihood that children will have real school choice," she said. The 49-year-old president of the Center for Education Reform shared with The Examiner what change could look like, and the faith and ideals that keep her fighting for it.
Do you consider yourself to be of a specific faith?
As a first generation Italian, I was born a Roman Catholic. I chose to remain a Catholic and to practice my Catholic faith, because of the truth it proclaims: That the greatest thing we can practice is charity (or love), particularly for the poor and the sick.
Did anyone or any event especially influence your faith, beliefs, or path in life?
There are a string of influences over time, which sort of passed the baton from one to another. My father came here with nothing, and did not let adversity stand in his way of doing what he believed in. He attributed much of success to education. A few college professors shaped my path by pushing me to excel, and to appreciate our political system -- that we, the citizens, are most responsible for its destiny. My late and first husband rekindled my faith; my children keep it strong.
To what extent do you believe teachers unions are able be a part of education reform? Or are they antithetical to it?
The two are incongruous! The mission of all teachers unions is to ensure the creation of rules that govern labor issues, not great education outcomes for students. While most teachers believe their job is about achievement, their unions fight every promising and even proven effort that would make that a reality for more children. Their opposition to reform, despite what you might hear, remains fierce. The sad thing is that good teachers are not well represented by mandatory union membership or fees. Because they didn't become teachers to go into politics, they don't fight it and instead, they stick to their job (which is why they are so good.)
If you had to pinpoint a time or an idea in educational history that was critical to what you now believe to be wrong with public education, what/when would it be?
My personal experience and career path converged with the release in 1983 of A Nation at Risk, our first wake up call that things were far from OK in education. I had graduated just a few years prior from a "great" public high school in northern New Jersey without having to take a real American history course, let alone a literature class, and arrived woefully unprepared for college, particularly compared to private school kids. Later I realized it wasn't just me -- and that my generation was the poster child for the "rising tide of mediocrity" which that pivotal report was talking about! I had people to show me how to fix it while many of my peers never learned they were undereducated. As parents, they still don't know. That's why CER works hard to educate parents today to understand that it's not enough to live in a nice area; you must become informed and have options.
At your core, what is one of your defining beliefs?
I'm crazy about our Founders and this nation's formation. I believe in the principles upon which this nation was founded, "that all men [and women] are created equal, endowed by their Creator, with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness ... [and] whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it ... laying its foundation on such principles ... as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness." [Sorry -- just can't say it any better than that!]
If all nations could embrace these simple tenets, we would arrest many of the evils that exist today that cause poverty and strife.
- Leah Fabel
