Some denizens of both private and public school systems view this yearning with a mixture of fear and disdain, but others sense in them new possibilities for something different and unique for all students, especially those students for whom the traditional public school house is the best hope for a brighter future. In fact, as long as there are children in our society whose best hope lies in the schools, our society's best hope will lie there also. We're coming from multiple directions. Joel Harding, who has retired from the classroom after more than 30 years of teaching at the high school level and who currently writes, organizes, and speaks to educational reform issues, advocates for the critical elements of sustainability vital to a healthy learning community. Kris Dinnison, whose experience includes teaching in both traditional and alternative settings, and whose talents include writing for educational and commercial publications, speaks to a critical difference between the investing and educational community, namely that of using versus ignoring the research.
Financial investors tend to make decisions based upon as much information as possible.
As Kris will show, some educators tend to ignore the data, however well documented, that threatens them with discomfort or change. Parker's advocacy for wholeness and integrity in the classroom inspires countless educators throughout the nation. And a word about me. For eight years I've helped GMJ to advocate the alignment of our money and our values, and for 27 years I've tried to encourage the pairing of heart and intellect in the classroom as a teacher of English and journalism. As indicated earlier, we hold many prized notions about what's true and what's false in the school house, but the one, this essential unity of conscience and consciousness, transcends the boundaries of education and finance.