Bridging the Divide: What the Public Is Telling Educators Could Help Resus

By Deborah Wadsworth

These are not the best of times for educators or education reformers. Educators are frustrated by an apparent paucity of understanding and support, as evidenced by rising criticisms and a wave of failing referendums. Reformers see their grand designs unraveling in communities from Colorado to Connecticut as parents and taxpayers join more traditional advocates of the status quo.

It's a particularly good time, therefore, to stand back and re-examine goals and strategies. We at the Public Agenda Foundation in New York City have very current information on how Americans feel about education reform, information we believe is essential to resuscitating reform that otherwise may be drowning.

Founded in 1975 by Cyrus Vance and Daniel Yankelovich as a nonprofit and nonpartisan organization to study such issues, Public Agenda has for the past half-dozen years built a reputation on interpreting the nuances and subtleties of public opinion on the issue of education reform. In so doing we have identified misperceptions and highlighted discontinuities between the public's agenda and...