The national education summit was held last week in a cloistered corporate campus with an exclusive guest list, but that did not prevent educators, parents, and others across the country from weighing in with reactions and opinions. I think it's great, but I'm not going to get all goosebumpy about it because I think a lot of it will become political fodder. But some said the March 26-27 meeting in Palisades, N.Y., struck just the right chords and brought some harmony to the reform movement.
Every state suffers from the illusion that their standards are the best.
Slap in the Face' As with the 1989 education summit in Charlottesville, Va., some groups complained that they were left out of the discussions or expressed dissatisfaction with the issues addressed in the meeting. Officials of the National PTA were upset that they were not represented at the meeting. We've had many examples where parents were not in on the ground floor, and then they have had to come back to us later. Sandra Zelno of North Huntingdon, Pa., who directs the PTA's mid-Atlantic region, said she wished the group could have gotten across the message that businesses can improve children's education by creating a better work atmosphere for their parents. It's the flexibility and time they give parents to be able to be more involved in their kids' education.