The Impact of Being Kept on the Sidelines

“From a democratic perspective, the question isn’t whether there should be higher standards or a common core curriculum; it is who gets to say what the standards and curriculum should be.  That’s where a meaningful public voice seems to be missing, whether it is at the local, state, or federal level.  And being kept on the sidelines may be one of the reasons a lot of Americans have lost confidence in our system of schooling.”  This quote from Kettering Foundation President David Mathews was excerpted from a 2016 research report entitled “The Public and Public Education.”  An internationally recognized non-profit foundation, the Kettering Foundation’s primary research question is:  What does it take to make democracy work as it should?