Observations, Perceptions, Inferences of Our Illinois Educators
By Suzana Peterson, CSBO, M.A., M.Ed
Special Education District of Lake County
Assistant Superintendent of Finance
“The developments of the past two decades have brought about massive changes in the governance of public education, especially in urban districts. Some children have gained; most have not. And the public schools, an essential element in our democracy for many generations, have suffered damage that may be irreparable.”1 According to Ravitch, the educational landscape in America speaks to irreparable damage, as shown in the poem below. Every person knows both intimately, to varying degrees, the hardship of effort without results; yet it is hard to find the words for the gut-wrenching experience of having given everything to fail and have less than what you started with.