This is a 10 minute clip from a documentary called Voices from the New American Schoolhouse about the Fairhaven School, a democratic school. I’m surprised more people haven’t heard of democratic schools. Sudbury Valley School is another one, perhaps one of the most popular. It was co-founded by Daniel Greenberg who said, “How can we expect our kids to participate in democracy when for 12 years they’re brought up in an autocratic society?” That’s a good question.
In 1991, John Taylor Gatto won New York State Teach of the Year and used his acceptance speech to decry public K-12 education in the US. This year, 2010, Coxsackie-Athens valedictorian Erica Goldson gave a graduation speech in similar style, denouncing public education and saying that she is scared.
But now, I have successfully shown that I was the best slave. I did what I was told to the extreme. While others sat in class and doodled to later become great artists, I sat in class to take notes and become a great test-taker. While others would come to class without their homework done because they were reading about an interest of theirs, I never missed an assignment. While others were creating music and writing lyrics, I decided to do extra credit, even though I never needed it. So, I wonder, why did I even want this position? Sure, I earned it, but what will come of it?
