In the 16th Century the
Protestant Reformation, led by John Knox, swept through Scotland.
Knox wanted every person to be able
to read the Bible, so he instituted a broad program of public education.
Two hundred years later, three out
of four Scotsmen could read and write, making Scotland the most literate nation
in Europe.
The result was a flowering of art,
science, technology, economics and literature known as the Scottish
Enlightenment, with philosopher David Hume, poet Robert Burns, economist Adam
Smith and inventor James Watt all living in Edinburgh at the same time.
And that intellectual flowering triggered
the industrial revolution that made Britain the greatest empire the world had
ever known.
Something similar happened here in
the United States in the mid-19th Century, when reformers passed new
public education laws making school compulsory through the age of 16.
The result was a highly educated
workforce that built the world's biggest economic powerhouse and became the
great arsenal of democracy during two world wars.
After World War II we did it again,
passing the G.I. Bill of Rights that sent millions of returning vets to college,
forming the basis of the Eisenhower '50s, the greatest period of prosperity our
country has ever known.
The lesson is clear: Education equals
prosperity.
But it's a lesson we have forgotten
over the last 50 years. We have allowed our public schools, from kindergarten
to college, to whither from lack of funds.
Nowhere is that more apparent than
the West Contra Costa Unified School District, where teachers have to pay out
of their own pockets for such basics as paper and pencils for their students.
Some people say you can't solve
problems by throwing money at them, but public education has been starved for
so long, a massive infusion of funds would be a life-saver.
In this political climate, that's
not going to happen anytime soon. Until then, private individuals are trying to
give the schools emergency transfusions to keep them alive until the public
wakes up and forces the politicians to do the right thing.
One such effort is the West Contra
Costa Public Education Fund – The Ed. Fund, for short – which bestows small
monetary awards on outstanding teachers, staff and volunteers to continue their
good work. This year alone it has awarded 77 grants to schools and 75 college
scholarships to graduating high school seniors.
This year's awardees are Joshua
Hastings, a history teacher at Richmond High; Maria Saxton, a dual immersion
teacher at Washington Elementary; Abigail Sims-Evelyn, a history and leadership
teacher at LoVonya DeJean Middle School; Tracy Singh-Poole, a special education
teacher at DeAnza High; and Todd Groves, volunteer par excellence at El Cerrito
High and Portola Middle School.
The awards will be presented May 18
at the Ed. Fund's annual Excellent In Education gala at the Craneway Pavilion
in Richmond. It's the Ed. Fund's major fundraiser of the year.
Tickets are $100 for adults, $75
for WCCUSD teachers and $30 for students. To purchase tickets – or to donate if
you can't attend - visit www.edfundwest.org or send a check to The Ed. Fund,
217C W. Richmond Ave., Richmond 94801.
Granted, this is tantamount to
slapping a Band-Aid on a gaping wound. But a Band-Aid is better than nothing
until we can get the patient to surgery.
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