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Sacred Trust

A Children’s Education Bill of Rights

By: Peter W. Cookson, Jr.

Foreword by Rudy Crew

Peter Cookson asserts that all children have the right to an excellent education, and provides steps for creating an action plan that will lead to equitable schools.

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Product Details

Grade Level: K-12
ISBN: 9781412981163
Published By: Corwin
Year: 2011
Page Count: 160
Publication date: May 10, 2011

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Description

"Sacred Trust: A Children's Education Bill of Rights is a clarion call to action for all Americans who care deeply about children and public education. Peter Cookson cuts through the endless policy debates and presents a positive plan for building 21st century public schools for all children."
—Richard W. Riley, Former U. S. Secretary of Education
Senior Partner, EducationCounsel, LLC, Washington, DC

"Peter Cookson's vision for a truly inclusive and quality public school system could not come at a better time. As many of our children are struggling, we need a national vision and a genuine sense of hope. Sacred Trust is a caring, yet uncompromising wake-up call to honor and support public education."
—Ramon C. Cortines, Former Superintendent
Los Angeles Unified School District, CA

All students have the right to an excellent education

Policy expert Peter W. Cookson, Jr. boldly describes a proposed education bill of rights for American students, including ideas on how to restructure the United States Department of Education for greater equity and improved academic achievement for all learners. School leaders will find a national blueprint of action that has been endorsed by major political, economic, and educational leaders. The book asserts that all children have the right to:

Attend a school that is funded for 21^st-century excellence
Develop individual learning styles to the optimal extent
Have their heritages honored and incorporated into study

Included are examples illustrate problems and solutions from a wide range of public and private schools in rural, urban, and suburban areas. Through vivid storytelling and relevant research, Cookson provides specific and innovative steps for creating a concrete action plan that will lead to just, equitable, and world-class schools.

Key features

Features and Benefits:

Draws on evidence from the literature and illustrative storytelling to not only highlight problems in our schools, but to make the case for instituting a bold policy—an education bill of rights
Presents examples of issues and solutions from all types of schools—private and public; rural, urban, suburban
Offers chapters on basic justice, unity in diversity, authentic 21st century teaching and learning, emancipatory education, and educational justice
Provides Book Study Questions designed to provoke thought and ignite dialogue
Each chapter offers Possible Action Steps that educators can implement in their schools to bring about more equity and improve the academic achievement of all students
Includes an entire chapter devoted to implementing the action plan of the education bill of rights with ideas on how to restructure the federal Department of Education.
Offers a national blueprint for action which has already been endorsed by major political, economic, and educational constituencies

Author(s)

Peter W. Cookson, Jr.

Peter Cookson’s knowledge of schools and children’s learning needs comes from a lifetime of teaching, researching, and working to improve the quality of education for all children. His first job after college was as a case worker for the New York City Department of Social Services. His days were spent visiting the homes of the city’s most disadvantaged citizens. It is to these families, especially the children, that he owes a life’s commitment to the cause of educational justice.

Peter went on to teach social studies at a large rural public school and history and Latin at a private day school. He returned to NYU to receive a Ph.D. in the Sociology of Education and continued on with a postgraduate certificate from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and an M.A. from the Yale Divinity School.

He has taught and held leadership positions at several leading colleges and universities, including Teachers College, Columbia University, where he currently teaches the Sociology of Urban Education. He also currently works with schools around the country as the founder of a Washington, D.C. based consulting firm, Ideas without Borders.

Throughout his career he has written, lectured, debated, and researched extensively on the democratic importance of equality of educational opportunity, 21st century learning, and educational innovation. Some of his works include Preparing for Power: America’s Elite Boarding Schools, co-authored with Caroline Hodges Persell (1985); School Choice and the Struggle for the Soul of American Education (1994); Expect Miracles: Charter Schools and the Politics of Hope and Despair, co-authored with Kristina Berger (2002); and his latest book, Sacred Trust: A Children’s Education Bill of Rights (2011). He is completing another book to be published in 2012, The Great Unequalizer: Class and American Education.

Peter’s wife, Susan, worked for many years as a family therapist and is now a professional artist. They have two children and four grandchildren.

Table of Contents

Foreword

Acknowledgements

About the Author

Introduction: A Measure of Our Soul

Chapter One: The Power of People and the Purpose of Public Education

All Children Dream

Educationally Experimenting on the Poor

Madison was Right: A New Policy Framework

Turning Dreams into Reality

The Obtainable Utopia

Book Study Questions

Possible Action Steps

Suggested Further Reading

Chapter Two: The Right to a Safe, Healthy, World-Class Pubic School

Right Number 1: The right to a neighborhood public school or a public school of choice that is funded for excellence

The Great Unequalizer

Getting to the Real Issues

Money---Spent Wisely---Does Matter

Reclaiming Horace's Dream

Book Study Questions

Possible Action Steps

Suggested Further Reading

Right Number 2: The right to physical and emotional health and safety

Do No Harm: The First Obligation

Basic Justice Requires Basic Care

Health and Social Health

Book Study Questions

Possible Action Steps

Suggested Further Reading

Right Number 4: The right to develop learning styles and strategies to the greatest extent possible

Doubt and Its Virtues

The Mismatch Between Research and Practice

Maximizing Children's Talent Through Individualization

Inquiry as a Way of Life

Book Study Questions

Possible Action Steps

Suggested Further Reading

Chapter Four: The Right to High Quality Instruction and School Leadership

Right Number 5: The right to an excellent and dedicated teacher

Why Don't We Ask the Teachers?

Elevating Teaching

Practical Idealism Works

Book Study Questions

Possible Action Steps

Suggested Further Reading

Right Number 6: The right to a school leader with vision and educational expertise

Leadership for 21st-Century Schools

National Educational Leadership

A School Without Vision Is Lost

Book Study Questions

Possible Action Steps

Suggested Further Reading

Chapter Five: The Right to World-Class 21st-Century Curriculum and Technology

Right Number 7: The right to a curriculum based on relevance, depth, and flexibility

Boredom--The Lucky Two Percent

Virtual Socrates

Eradicating Boredom

Book Study Questions

Possible Action Steps

Suggested Further Reading

Right Number 8: The right of access to the most powerful educational technologies

Learning in the Electronic Era

Why a Right to 21st-Century Communication Technologies?

Technology, Technopoly, and Cyber Sanity

What Would Socrates Say?

Book Study Questions

Possible Action Steps

Suggested Further Reading

Chapter Six: The Right to Equality of Educational Opportunity

Right Number 9: The right to fair, relevant, and learner-based evaluations

In the Belly of the Beast

Why a Right to Fair Evaluation?

The Einstein Factor, the Picasso Possibility, and the Sanctity of Natural Genius

Book Study Questions

Possible Action Steps

Suggested Further Reading

Right Number 10: The right to complete high school

The Tragic Consequences of Educational Neglect

Why a Right to Graduate?

What Would the Founders Say?

Book Study Questions

Possible Action Steps

Suggested Further Reading

Chapter Seven: The Right to Good Government

21st-Century Government and a "Sense of the People"

A New Department of Education---A National "Seminary of Learning"

Organizing for Learning

The Dream Recaptured

Book Study Questions

Possible Action Steps

Suggested Further Reading

Resource 1: The Historic Issue of Equity and Excellence

Resource 2: The Virginia Declaration of Rights

Resource 3: Education and the Peace Dividend

Resource 4: Principles of Multicultural Education

References

Index

Reviews

"Some of the ideas in this motivating book really push the envelope. I love the idea of establishing an educational trust fund for every American child! Wow, can you imagine how amazing this would be if it really came to fruition?"

Brigitte Tennis, Teacher
Stella Schola Middle School, Redmond, WA

"This book will be very helpful for future K–12 administrators as they attempt to understand the underlying dynamics of future trends and educational demands. It provides educators with a solid philosophy and personal plan of action for addressing these issues in their own community."

Bernardo J. Carducci, Director, Shyness Research Institute
Indiana University Southeast, New Albany, IN

"This book approaches the problems of education in a positive way by relating how to solve those problems through the consideration of the rights of children. The author’s list of rights is refreshing and different from other lists that have been published. I wholeheartedly recommend this book for all educators and anyone who has a stake in education."

Karen L. Canfield, Principal
Pioneer Intermediate School, Noble, OK

Quote by Richard W. Riley, Former U. S. Secretary of Education, Senior Partner, EducationCounsel, LLC, Washington, DC:
"Sacred Trust: A Children’s Education Bill of Rights is a clarion call to action for all Americans who care deeply about children and public education. Peter Cookson cuts through the endless policy debates and presents a positive plan for building 21st century public schools for all children."

"Sacred Trust: A Children’s Education Bill of Rights is a clarion call to action for all Americans who care deeply about children and public education. Peter Cookson cuts through the endless policy debates and presents a positive plan for building 21st century public schools for all children."

Richard W. Riley, Former U. S. Secretary of Education
Senior Partner, EducationCounsel, LLC, Washington, DC

Quote by Gardner P. Dunnan, Academic Dean, Avenues: The World School, New York, NY:
"In Sacred Trust: A Children’s Education Bill of Rights, Peter Cookson provides a road map for developing every child’s greatest abilities and private hopes and dreams. With his proposed ten rights, plus the added right to good government, he provides a compact that if fulfilled will save our species from self-inflicted extinction. All educators, policy makers, and parents should treasure this book for its robust guidance on how we can benefit everyone by achieving this essential Bill of Rights."

"In Sacred Trust: A Children’s Education Bill of Rights, Peter Cookson provides a road map for developing every child’s greatest abilities and private hopes and dreams. With his proposed ten rights, plus the added right to good government, he provides a compact that if fulfilled will save our species from self-inflicted extinction. All educators, policy makers, and parents should treasure this book for its robust guidance on how we can benefit everyone by achieving this essential Bill of Rights."

Gardner P. Dunnan, Academic Dean
Avenues: The World School, New York, NY

Quote by Ramon C. Cortines, Former Superintendent, Los Angeles Unified School District, CA:
"Peter Cookson's vision for a truly inclusive and quality public school system could not come at a better time. As many of our children are struggling, we need a national vision and a genuine sense of hope. Sacred Trust is a caring, yet uncompromising wake-up call to honor and support public education."

"Peter Cookson's vision for a truly inclusive and quality public school system could not come at a better time. As many of our children are struggling, we need a national vision and a genuine sense of hope. Sacred Trust is a caring, yet uncompromising wake-up call to honor and support public education."

Ramon C. Cortines, Former Superintendent
Los Angeles Unified School District, CA

Quote by Eric J. Cooper, President and Founder, National Urban Alliance for Effective Education, Syosset, NY: "Peter Cookson elegantly parses language in a manner which speaks convincingly to the heart of an idealist and the mind of a pragmatist. His passionate and urgent plea for a 'Children's Education Bill of Rights' provides a reform blueprint with, through and for schoolchildren and youth in our country. This book is must reading for all interested in empowering more citizens to gain the promise of America."

"Peter Cookson elegantly parses language in a manner which speaks convincingly to the heart of an idealist and the mind of a pragmatist. His passionate and urgent plea for a 'Children's Education Bill of Rights' provides a reform blueprint with, through and for schoolchildren and youth in our country. This book is must reading for all interested in empowering more citizens to gain the promise of America."
Eric J. Cooper, President and Founder
National Urban Alliance for Effective Education, Syosset, NY

Quote by James P. Comer, Maurice Falk Professor of Child Psychiatry, Yale Child Study Center, New Haven, CT: "This book is both succinct and comprehensive, well-documented and objective, but full of a pregnant sense of outrage, powerful and commanding. The message is that it is time to stop talking and start solving our education problem."

"This book is both succinct and comprehensive, well-documented and objective, but full of a pregnant sense of outrage, powerful and commanding. The message is that it is time to stop talking and start solving our education problem."
James P. Comer, Maurice Falk Professor of Child Psychiatry
Yale Child Study Center, New Haven, CT

Quote by Caroline Hodges Persell, Professor of Sociology, New York University: "Brimming with ideas, inspiration, and important questions, Sacred Trust could be the cornerstone for ongoing debate and action aimed at creating the schools we need for children in this century. Peter Cookson is an eloquent writer whose educational insight and wisdom warrants close attention."

"Brimming with ideas, inspiration, and important questions, Sacred Trust could be the cornerstone for ongoing debate and action aimed at creating the schools we need for children in this century. Peter Cookson is an eloquent writer whose educational insight and wisdom warrants close attention."
Caroline Hodges Persell, Professor of Sociology
New York University

Quote by Aaron M. Pallas, Professor of Sociology and Education, Teachers College, Columbia University, NY:
“Sacred Trust bristles with passion and imagination. Peter Cookson makes a forceful argument that the human rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness articulated in the Declaration of Independence demand an education which cultivates the whole person."

“Sacred Trust bristles with passion and imagination. Peter Cookson makes a forceful argument that the human rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness articulated in the Declaration of Independence demand an education which cultivates the whole person."

Aaron M. Pallas, Professor of Sociology and Education
Teachers College, Columbia University, NY

Quote by David C. Berliner, Regents' Professor Emeritus, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ:
"Peter Cookson understands, as did our founding fathers, that a first-class education is necessary for national cohesion. In many ways, it is our nation’s best defense. With his Children's Education Bill of Rights, he lays out the principles that should guide the stewardship of all our children."

"Peter Cookson understands, as did our founding fathers, that a first-class education is necessary for national cohesion. In many ways, it is our nation’s best defense. With his Children's Education Bill of Rights, he lays out the principles that should guide the stewardship of all our children."

David C. Berliner, Regents' Professor Emeritus
Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ

Quote by James A. Cox, Editor in Chief, The Midwest Book Review, August 2011: "Outlines the types of education all American kids should have a right to enjoy and covers problems and solutions to achieving this uniform goals. Makes a fine action plan for all schools to consider."

"Outlines the types of education all American kids should have a right to enjoy and covers problems and solutions to achieving this uniform goals. Makes a fine action plan for all schools to consider."
James A. Cox, Editor in Chief
The Midwest Book Review, August 2011

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