Who Will Be at the Table?

While the debate over EdChoice is the proverbial shiny object currently drawing nearly everyone’s attention, some of our nation’s most influential conservative voices are proclaiming that school choice is not enough and that conservatives need to re-engage in shaping the “substance of what we want children to learn.”  By substance, they include “preparing young people for informed citizenship, restoring character, virtue, and morality to the head of the education table, and building an education system that confers dignity, respect, and opportunity upon every youngster.”  Their focus in reigniting the education reform movement which they contend has stalled is chronicled in a new book, How to Educate an American: The Conservative Vision for Tomorrow’s Schools.  The pivotal issue that needs to be addressed is:  Who will be at the table to discuss what we want children to learn?  Will it include the American people and the communities in which they reside or will it be limited to an alliance of private and public interest groups and education policymakers?