By Bill
Cirone, Santa Barbara County Superintendent of Schools
“Together we make a profound difference
for public education” is the theme of this year’s Public Schools Month,
celebrated in April and sponsored by the Grand Lodge of the Free and Accepted
Masons.
It provides all of us with an opportunity
to celebrate our schools. It’s a month for thanking those who make a difference
in the all of our classrooms: teachers, parents, educational support personnel,
administrators, business partners, and community volunteers.
It’s also a month for spotlighting how
important education is to the health and well-being of our children, our
economy, and of our nation.
It’s a month for strengthening the
connection between public schools and the community they serve, and for
renewing partnerships between schools and the public on behalf of students.
This year’s theme is designed to remind
people that public schools embody the great American promise of equality of
opportunity for all and that they are the cornerstones of a democratic society.
As the late Frosty Troy, Pulitzer Prize winning journalist for The Oklahoma Observer once said, it is a
time to remind policymakers that “American politicians are the only ones on the
globe who consider education as an expense rather than an investment.”
Schools
do not act in a vacuum. They provide students with both skills and hope for the
future. Schools can help students achieve to the best of their potential, but
they need the support of parents and community members to help motivate
students to take their studies seriously. It is a team effort in every sense of
the word.
To make our schools the best they can be
requires a commitment from every member of the community, from retired citizens
to parents, from business leaders to school board members.
The goal of Public Schools Month since
its inception in 1921 has been to increase public understanding and
appreciation of the nation’s schools, to encourage parents and non-parents to
visit schools, and to build civic and community pride and support for public
education.
We urge members of the community to take
advantage of this opportunity to see local schools in action. Those who haven’t
stepped into a classroom in many years will no doubt be amazed by the depth and
breadth of what is being taught.
It’s important to keep in mind that by
working together, we can give today’s students the tools they need to be
whatever they want to be. Today’s students are tomorrow’s consumers and
workforce. We all have a vested interest in their success.
