Getting Educated About Education

President Clinton convened his Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) annual meeting last week in New York City and I was fortunate to attend. While there, I received a first class education, listening as some of the world's brightest and most committed people argued and agreed on new ways to solve the most pressing problems, from global education to climate change. I spoke with activists, policy experts, generals, CEOs and everyday people working tirelessly at non-profits and NGOs in countries around the world. From them, I learned about ways we can all assist in reducing the obstacles to creating systemic change.

Recognizing that the world doesn't need another speech, CGI instead brings together heads of state, corporate leaders, humanitarians and non-profits under the same roof with very clear instructions from President Clinton -- they are not to leave the building until they've made measurable "commitments" to new ways of working together to fight poverty and help the "bottom billion," those who live on less than $1 a day. James Carville even humorously directed all those who hadn't yet made a commitment to raise their hands, so he could give them a Cajun-style public shaming until they stepped up.

Luckily, I didn't have to raise my hand. I was part of a CGI commitment with 1GOAL: Education for All to talk about the 75 million children denied access to education around the world today. If you're keeping count, that's as if every school in the U.S. and Europe combined decided one day to close their doors. Joining Global Co-Chair Queen Rania Al Abdullah of Jordan, ONE co-founder Bono, FIFA and private sector leaders, I signed up to be US Co-Chair of 1GOAL and help work for a breakthrough on global education centered around the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

The 2010 World Cup will be the first hosted by Africa, and 1GOAL views the world's biggest sporting event as an opportune platform to persuade the millions of fans who peacefully come together to share the love of soccer to also unite on educating the world's children. Our goal is to sign up 30 million World Cup supporters to call on our leaders to make education for all children a priority and reality. Name by name, we believe we can bring attention to global education disparities and make change a reality.

In the US we take for granted that our children have a right to education and the opportunities education provides. But for tens of millions of kids in the developing world, children who are just like our kids, the chance for an education is a hope and a dream, but not yet a reality. These could be our next generation's leaders, athletes, doctors, teachers, and parents. They're ready to do their homework, but school fees, conflict, working in factories and farms, losing their parents to sickness, the cost of a school uniform or simply being a girl can keep them from being able to attend school.

If you have a daughter, sister, or mother, you should know that the majority of children unable to attend school are girls. Without an education, they are almost certain to be trapped in a life of poverty. Despite studies that prove investing in girls and women has a sustainable return, most funding continues to be directed towards other initiatives. You don't have to take my word for it. Read Nick Kristof and Sheryl Wudunn's new book Half The Sky to learn about the butterfly effect of an educated woman versus her male counterpart.

My teachers this past week were the very best in their respective fields. I was humbled by the experience, but more importantly, I walked away optimistic about the tangible results the 1GOAL commitment will generate. I'm thankful to President Clinton, Queen Rania, Bono and the rest of the cultural influencers and educators who took the time out of their busy schedules to engage in such a productive forum. I look forward to attending next year's CGI and giving a report there on the impact of 1GOAL.

Get involved and add your name at join1goal.org

Comments

[goto1000]

"In the US we take for granted that our children have a right to education and the opportunities education provides. But for tens of millions of kids in the developing world, children who are just like our kids, the chance for an education is a hope and a dream"

Given the current funding problems for state schools and the university system leading to their partial annhilation by cutbacks affecting almost exclusively the poor (and even not-so-poor), California must then be firmly located in the 'developing world'.

[34MillionFriends]

I have a chilren's writing booklet from an elementary school sponsored by the United Nations Population Fund in Senegal. In French on the front: Little girls have as much right to food, education, and health care as little boys. I am cofounder of 34 Million Friends of UNFPA. www.34mill­ionfriends­.org
Cheers, Jane

[margent7]

If the teeny tiny amount of religous dogma allowed in the schools is responsible for all the ills of the liberal caste system of our schools then why in the world do we do so poorly? Why did we , as a country do sssoooooo much better prior to the bible being removed from schools, prior to them being the bastion of all things liberal. When they were conservative entities, as they should be, our kids turned out so much better. Now look at them, most schools have to be ran like prisons because we have liberalised our approach to their education. Liberal approaches to education has turned our kids into a bunch of anarchists. I shudder to think what the next few generations will look like after you libs get your claws deeper into their hearts.

[j0hnwi11iams]

The problem is that initiatives like NCLB are geared towards stuffing kids heads with technical information so they can grow up to be trained monkeys. There is a lot we should be teaching in school but don't because testing is the only thing NCLB cares about and it is too narrow in what it evaluates. Remove all the INTELLIGENCE from the system and see what happens. NCLB is a mindless market mechanism that is failing our children.

[JohnLombard]

Typical of such posts, your comments demonstrate terrible ignorance of basic logic, even while you criticize education. One of the basic rules of logic is that correlation does not equal causation (ie. just because you find a link between two things, it doesn't mean that one is the cause of the other). The classic example is arguing that 100% of people who drink milk will die...and therefore, milk must be a cause of death. Or, alternatively, 95% of people who get cancer drink milk...so milk must be the cause of cancer.

If you want to demonstrate actual causation, you must form a hypothesis, and then test it. In this case, the hypothesis is that decreased Biblical content in schools causes decreased quality of education. To test this, we look not only at the U.S., but at other nations as well.

And there is where the basic fallacy of your conclusion is more than adequately demonstrat­ed...becau­se the majority of the countries that have BETTER education than the U.S. are countries that are MORE liberal, and have even LESS Bible in their curriculum.

Instead of plainly erroneous arguments, why not put the blame where it REALLY lays...at the foot of governments who have consistently made education a secondary or even tertiary priority, continuing to cut funding while at the same time lowering standards. And this can't be blamed on "Liberals" alone...co­nservative government leaders have been just as guilty.

[Burudika]

Wow! common sense is so refreshing! well done. If I'm not mistaken Texas teaches the bible (mandatory) in public schools and they lag in the bottom in all academic standards! and so do all other states in the 'bible belt'

[banja]

great work Jessica,keep it up. education is a right not a privilege for the wealthy and well connected.

[norrton]

it's more than ironic the right champions education, leaving no child behind, by leaving them blind and holding hands with an imaginary couple named, you guessed it, Adam and Eve. The damage done by stamping ignorance holy knows no bounds. Thanks for trying to make a difference. The cornerstone for that change must be removing the bible and the respect for it from government and public education.

[akrishn3]

You have not seen schools in India and Korea and Signapore and Malaysia.
the level of religiousness in school is 3 or 4 order of magnitude greater than of that of US.
They turnout to be just fine...In fact they kick ass in math and science to any devleoped / secular country.
The problem is not religion dude. The problem is paraental attitude and responsibility..
Secondly the teachers in US are big wuss... they complain about less resource (huh... have you seen a class room in US and Malaysia?) and class size. (again see signapore, Inida , China, and malaysia)
Ban teachers Union. fire incompetant teachers....stop hiring arts/ lang/history teachers in elementary and middle schools. Hire math and science majors instead (these teachers would be smart and have enough Lang/arts knowledge because most probably they took AP classess and got a 4.0 in their 12 grade... that much is enough to tech elementary and middle schools)

[PocketWatch]

Some of what you say has validity, but I have another perspective.

Science without music is a dead thing (music is physics brought to beauty, believe it or not), math without dreams is just a spreadsheet with no life, studying alone without participation in group activities like theater productions, choral groups, band, debate clubs and all the rest of those "useless-t­o-business­" extracurricular activities emphasizes the "me" attitude that got us to this pass in the first place.

[Shrinath]

Hi akrishn3. I agree with PocketWatch. Arts, music and language play a great role in furthering mathematical skills. Especially music. You do make some great points and I agree with all of them.

[Winning09]

I agree!!

[dadw5boys]

Change the Culture and Change the Kids.

Try longer hours in School just 2 yrs.

See how quick the number of kid in jail drops, drugs, crime, and gangs.

[akrishn3]

2 hrs is good. if the teachers are ready to work without pay for those 2 hrs.
This is payback from Obama to the teachers Union.

[Blenvid]

I was thinking the same thing, but from another perspective.

Part of the problem with advocating education for women, in countries such as Afghanistan, is that their society's class, family, and power structure is organized in such a way that girls simply don't attend schools. It's not only seen as an abnormailty, it's seen as an afront to the traditions and culture of generations. We can disagree that girls should be educated and provide assistance in the matter, but when does advocation border on cultural mettling? Particularly in this time there's a growing sense of East vs. West and no matter how much we want it for them, we can only do so much. I read an article on women in Afghanistan and some are saying they don't want an education, and that they don't want to be Westernized. How sad, and yet how would we feel in their shoes?

I applaud you bringing attention to the matter Ms. Alba. We're alike in our desire to have children receive an education.

[Ventoi]

Children need the writing and reading and speaking basics and the math basics...

PLUS a desire to learn...
a will to learn...

and some good quality examples of how to go about learning something new.

Knowing we know how to learn
and realising that we can never know everything
but are willing to try

will give us all better self-confidence...

to face the world

we each know different things...

that is not a bad thing...

because some day...

someone will want or need some of what we have learned or are trying to learn each day.

[PocketWatch]

Pssssst! If you can read this and use a computer, find one of your teachers and thank them!

[Hamartia]

Yeah and if you can't; blame a teacher's union, your local public school system and your parents.

[themeeg]

And, whatever you do, do not take any responsibility for your own learning or success. You shouldn't have to actually do any work yourself, but should expect to magically succeed with any effort.

[happykiddo]

You are amazing.

[Winthorpe]

I admire the cause, but as an American, I prefer to focus on the needs of our own citizens. The myth that everything is fine and dandy here in the "wealthiest country in the world" has worn thin on me.

[customgreen]

I completely agree.

[mcyina]

As someone from a developing country if the government, citizens and parent do not make it a priority it will not and the same goes for developed nation.

[ianrthorpe]

In the third world Jessica. In the UK 40% of pupils leaving the state education system at 16 lack basic literacy and numeracy skills though they are fully indoctrinated with politically correct thinking and know how to demand their "rights."

Even among University graduates 25% need special training to get them up to speed on numeracy and language skills.

Actually, in my experience, kids from third world nations get a better education because they are taught nobody has the right to an easy life and this is borne out by their experience. Thus they are prepared to work to better their chances.

http://www.greenteethmm.com/macology_science_of_burger_flipping.shtml

[GrafZeppelin127]

American kids are at a disadvantage to the rest of the world because our education system is not based on learning; it's based on boosting children's self-esteem. To put it another way, American parents don't send their kids to school to learn new things; they send them to be praised, congratulated and rewarded for what they already know and what they already can do. American public schools are not institutions of learning; they are institutions of validation.

Witness the number of students with straight-A averages, the number of students receiving awards and medals and ribbons and trophies not for real achievement, but participation. Some schools have five, ten, twenty valedictorians. Schools don't make kids compete with one another for high grades, honors, and awards, because the kids who don't get them might feel bad, which might in turn spark their parents into a how-dare-you rampage. Instead of challenging kids to do better, they simply lower expectations and create more awards. We assume that, if kids struggle or fail, then the work must be too hard of the expectations too high, so we make it easier for them. Thus removing any and all incentive kids have to actually learn and improve.

[amyhasopinions]

From my experience, this is a multi-layered issue: parents who let their egos determine what happens in the classroom combined with weak teachers and weak administrators reluctant to stand up to those parents combined with poor truth-in-grading policies in the school district.

Public schools require help from the communities they serve to truly function properly. And the issues facing schools today are so deep and varied from state to state and district to district that it's far too simplistic to just say: Schools aren't doing their job because of X.

I semi-agree that American schools are not institutions that are focused on learning--we're insitutions focused on learning how to regurgitate information so we can pass tests. Higher order thinking skills are no longer the focus now. It's quite sad. (Though not as sad as living in a country where you have no access to a free education at all.)

[ron46032]

Most kids fail because their parents don't kick their butts (figuratively) when they fail at school. This is inline with the self-esteem mentality. Shame is a very good motivator. Kicking kids off the computer, DS, 360, GameCube, etc. when they fail are also good motivators.

You know that a computer isn't necessary to learn how to read, write, and do math.

[Grackle]

Unfortunately, our culture puts more importance on scores than substance.

[lightbulb10]

And I agree about "Half the Sky" - I absolutely love the concept and where it draws from. Though not reading it now, I already bought it for my Grandmother, who was highly disappointed with the recent Nancy Grace book. Here's hoping she takes heart to it as well.