Staying Optimistic in Tough Times: Shrinking Budgets and Unrelenting Demands for Higher Achievement Are Threatening Education, but Education around the World Is Still Better Than Ever

I'm an optimistic person. Indeed, a former colleague whom I admired very much once referred to me as having a relentless optimism, which I did not entirely think was meant as a compliment. Though I still tend to see the glass as half full, I have to admit that these days it's getting harder to maintain a positive disposition on the future of public education or on the future of the world. So many things seem wrong--from toxic politics that alienate many people to the huge pressures on public services around the world caused by the financial crisis to the threats to the environment to, well, why go on? I'll just depress you as well as me. In education, the picture is also gloomy in many ways. Many countries have reduced education spending, laid off teachers, or increased class sizes. In other parts of the world, education remains in short supply with not enough teachers or schools for all children. In other places, macroeconomic pressures are increasing unemployment, hurting families, while also reducing social supports, such as child care or housing so children are bringing more stress to schools that have fewer resources to help them. Frankly, it is very hard to see how this strategy can possibly lead to greater prosperity. It seems as if we're returning to the conventional wisdom on public services of the 1930s, which was a failure then. It is even less likely to be effective now. Given all that, it's easy to be gloomy. And yet ... Over the last few months, there are many positive developments in the world, including in education, especially if one takes a long view. (Much of what follows is from a wonderful column by Doug Saunders in the Toronto Globe and Mail (2009). So, as we head into the holiday season, it seemed worthwhile to share some reasons to celebrate and to renew our energy to continue to fight for the things we know are good for students and, indeed, for all people. Let's start with wars. Although wars continue to take place, the last 10 years have seen a marked decline in armed conflict by historical standards. According to Project Ploughshares, there are fewer armed conflicts with fewer deaths than at any time in recent history. Refugees are at the lowest level in 25 years. Africa, Latin America, and the former Soviet world have generally had reasonably good economic growth in the last decade. A decade ago, we feared that AIDS would kill huge numbers of people. Now, throughout much of the world, AIDS is under control, which is, in part, why we hear so much less about it in the news. And, Saunders suggests, we can also celebrate that sushi restaurants are increasing in numbers more rapidly than burger places. Human rights On a more serious note, it's worth reminding ourselves that the whole idea of human rights is relatively recent--perhaps a couple of centuries old. For most of human history, slavery was common and large numbers of people were considered the property of others, expendable, with no role in determining their own lives. That has changed dramatically, though not yet enough. Slavery, while not eradicated, is no longer condoned or seen as normal. Over the last hundred years, the status and situation of women has improved dramatically in many parts of the world (United Nations, 2011). It's easy to forget that a century ago in most places women could not vote, own property, or have independent lives. Discrimination based on caste, skin color, or religion is no longer acceptable in most places. Most countries have curtailed or eliminated child labor and recognized that children also have rights and aren't simply the property of their parents. Of course, abuses still occur in all these areas, much more than we might want, but situations once considered routine are now seen as problems. And within that frame, the idea of educating all children is less than 200 years old and over that time has made enormous progress. Even in rich countries, 50 years ago many disabled children were denied any kind of reasonable education--though, again, there are still too many children around the world who do not receive any or adequate schooling Since 1990, the global under-five mortality rate has dropped 41% and many countries have reduced their under-five mortality rate by more than 50% (UNICEF, 2001). …

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