Why Local Control Is So Important

In the introduction to his book, Reclaiming Public Education by Reclaiming Our Democracy, Charles F. Kettering Foundation President David Mathews puts into clear perspective why the growing statewide initiative by the Ohio Public School Advocacy Network to restore local control of our public schools is so important:  “The adults who have the most direct influence on young people include their parents, relatives, teachers, principals, coaches, and next-door neighbors.  But these aren’t necessarily the people who make the decisions about school policies.  Ironically, those with the greatest opportunities to shape the lives of the next generation are at the end of a long chain of authority stretching from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue through state capitals to districts to local schools and finally into classrooms.  This book (Reclaiming Public Education by Reclaiming Our Democracy) was written for people who may see themselves at the bottom of that pile.  I believe there are ways for them to enrich our schools and, at the same time, reinvigorate our democracy, which is inseparable from education.”