“When I use a word,” Humpty Dumpty said, in a rather scornful tone, “It means just what I choose it to mean – neither more nor less.”
“The question is,” said Alice, “whether you can make words mean so many different things.”
My friend Michael asked me what the word ‘reformer’ means. I stumbled and mumbled and decided that, like Humpty, it means whatever anyone wants it to mean. Michael agreed that when the stakes are so high the results are clear: most people will lie, cheat or remain mute to escape the pain of censure. He also reminded me about the courage it takes to speak out in public. How nobody really wants a whistle-blower in their midst. How it’s easier to go along than to get along. Paul Tough, in his article for the NY Times, assumes we all agree with his concepts. He calls Diane Ravitch a “scholar,” but implied that those involved in the charter school movement are reformers. I agree with his premise but not with his language.
A reformer is anyone in education who has the courage to find his voice when others won’t, who speaks for the kids whose voices are hardly ever valued. A reformer sits with the slings and arrows of others’ silence in order to look at himself in the mirror each morning with pride. My friend Michael is a reformer. Are you?
