| While this issue of LEADER was going to press, a
tragedy of truly awesome proportions was unfolding. On
September 11, as images of jets flying into heavily
occupied buildings burned into our collective
consciousness, my letter about the importance of parent
involvement suddenly seemed trivial.
As I reconsidered my letter, I thought of the man diving
to his death as his “method of choice” had been
reduced to jump or burn. I thought of President Bush
announcing a change in priorities as $40 billion was now
targeted to anti-terrorism. Anti-terrorism trumps
anti-bullying every time, just as “to survive”
is always higher on the hierarchy of needs than “to
thrive.” After all, can we afford not to take action
against misguided fanatics who threaten our security and
have left thousands of children crying for a parent who
will never come home?
How could a sane person object to the President’s
new priorities? Yet, a part of me does object. If we
allow terrorism to commandeer educational reform in this
country, then we have lost a piece of our future along
with much of our present. Part of what makes our country
great is our ongoing commitment to education. We know it
as an investment in the future, an investment no less
valuable than the stocks and bonds that were traded in
offices throughout the World Trade Center. To let
terrorists decimate that commitment is to give them a
second victory that will cost us dearly into the future.
What are our leaders to do? My hope is that they will
recognize that this is not an either/or choice. We can do
both. I was promised a fat tax break in the coming years.
Keep it. I enjoy recreation and entertainment as much as
anyone. Tax it. Let’s do whatever we need to do to
provide for our security without crippling the
educational system that lifts us up from the darkness of
blind obedience and fanaticism towards the light of
knowledge and freedom. For without it, we too can become
sheep led by outrageous despots into the cockpits of
suicidal ignorance.
Michael
H. Popkin, Ph.D.
Founder and President, Active Parenting Publishers
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