And let me repeat again at the end here, that our convictions and these principles have clear pedagogical merit. If they are taken seriously, if we do engage with the terribly difficult politics of subtraction, if we make sure that we think hard about each youngster, if we ask enough of that youngster, it works. But there also is a moral part of this that is of a different order. A school is not, and should not ever be, a faceless factory where the young people are herded about by teachers, engaged in crowd control, and organized largely by their age. A school can not be a factory where the adults do not know their kids.
Every child deserves to be known well.
Every child deserves to have her or his specialnesses recognized and respected. No two of them are alike. No two of them are inspired by precisely the same thing. Every teacher, likewise, deserves the respect of substantial autonomy within an honest and supportive community. You and I deserve the same kind of respect that our children do, if not in quite the same way.