A few days ago, I named Scott Kuffel to the honor roll for
his courage in speaking out against the state’s arbitrary decision to
raise the cut scores on state tests, thus lowering student grades,
in preparation for Common Core testing. Anytime a superintendent is
willing to stand up for what is right and to defend students and
teachers from misguided policies, they are heroic. We need many
more of them to stop the train wreck that is mistakenly called
“reform.” After I saluted him, Superintendent Kuffel responded with
this comment:
“To those above who state that I am not a hero, you are absolutely correct. I’ve neither made that claim nor asked to be on this honor roll. There is always more that can be done. I’m not going to bore you with the context of the consequences for pulling funding by not taking state mandated tests in Illinois, but trust me, I have explored as many options as possible to direct our district to be non-compliant without jeopardizing essential programs for our students.
“And yes, I do need to make mortgage payments and buy groceries for my family, and perhaps it would be more heroic to disregard personal, professional and programmatic damages and “opt out” of state tests… and it may come to that, but for now, we in Illinois still work under guidelines and laws that would require more than just my decision to authorize said “civil disobedience”. There are many in Illinois who join me in trying to return us to a time of more common sense (and yes, it may reference Thomas Paine), creativity, and constructivism. And believe me, we have refused to take part in several “reform” structures and resource draining initiatives that we believe do not improve our mission.
“So, you’re correct, I am no hero. I’m a superintendent of a public, PK-12 school district in rural Illinois. The hero is the principal who comes in early on a Sunday morning to replace sod on the football field where vandals damaged the turf before graduation. The hero is the school nurses who makes the difficult call home to parents and tends to a scarcely seen scratch on a kindergartner’s arm. The hero is the AP US History teacher who holds study sessions, at 8 pm at night after kids are finished with their practices. The hero is the art teacher who spends her own money for supplies and materials because she knows the budget is dwindling, but the need for the arts is more important than ever. The heroes are the parents who sacrifice time for fundraising and make meals for another parent who just tragically lost a child. The heroes are school board members who take the criticism and complaints for hiring, for spending, for firing, for taking “hard lines” in difficult times.
“The heroes are those who try. They try every day for their “littles” who come with scant learning experiences or understanding of manners. They try for the businesses and realtors in town who pressure for high quality schools because that drives local economies and housing. They try because they believe that what happens today has impacts on tomorrow that we’re never really sure we’ll see.
“And those are the heroes in whom I believe. They are the heroes who keep me coming to work every day. They’ve kept me coming to District 228 for 10 years, and I know they’ll keep me coming for a few more. Thanks for listening, and thanks for the many good suggestions in these previous comments. Scott Kuffel, Geneseo CUSD 228 Superintendent”
Diane Ravitch's blog 
It’s good to see educators recognized and honored. Why not also acknowledge that there are some young people who are heroes…who work hard and successfully, often with teacher encouragement, to overcome challenges that they have faced.
As written, this may be viewed by some as another part of the “look at all we do for those troubled children and young people.” Yes, that is part of the story.
Another part of the story is the success and valor of many young people.
Because the “heroes” Diane salutes are not generally people who have overcome obstacles to succeed in their own lives. They are typically people who have taken personal and professional risks to stand up to injustice on behalf of American students.
Diane has, in fact, saluted many young people in this regard – Students United for Public Education, the students who walked out in Philly, and Asean Johnson, as just a few examples.
Yes, it’s good to see young people, as well as adults, recognized.
Part of what troubles some of us is a narrative sometimes says schools are doing as well as they can with current resources, given all the problems youngsters and families have.
But there are public schools all over the country that are doing very well with these youngsters…not solving all their problems, but helping many of them graduate and enter some form of higher education and/or find a job and begin their careers.
One of the reasons that millions of students have left district public schools is that their families believe more progress is possible.
Dienne, you may add the Providence Student Union to that list of hero students.
“…families believe more progress is possible”
Yes, more progress *is* possible when schools have adequate resources like art, music, PE, recess, nurses, social workers, psychologists, small class sizes, teachers’ aides, veteran teachers, experienced and supportive administration, etc. When the public schools are drained of these resources, of course there’s going to be little or no “progress” and of course parents are going to look elsewhere. Why should privately-managed charters which siphon off money from public schools get these resources while public schools are left to starve?
Diane – yes, thanks for adding that.
Just fyi – State schools for gifted students are not under the control of local school boards. They have admissions tests and cost a lot of money.
State schools for students who are blind or deaf take public education dollars. They are not under the control of local boards.
There’s a lot more to public education in many states that those schools controlled by local school boards.
I’ve pointed this out before but no one seems to object. Why is that?
Well Mr. Kuffel, I must disagree, because your a Hero to me.
Class act.
On my view, there are no heroes, only people of decency and good will who do what is ethical even when it’s difficult, versus those who do evil out of greed, laziness, and/or ignorance. The question is not “What is right with people like Mr. Kuffel?” but rather, “What is wrong with everyone else?”
Michael Paul Goldenberg: agreed.
🙂
“The Only Thing Necessary for the Triumph of Evil is that Good Men Do Nothing.” [attribution uncertain; click on link below]
Link: http://quoteinvestigator.com/2010/12/04/good-men-do/
Don’t agonize.
Organize.
Great post! Thank you. I needed this story.
Anytime someone stands up and has the courage to say what we are doing to our children is nuts is heroic. Someone of his stature who does this should be an example to all of us. We need more people who will question and ask “What are we doing to our children?” and to defend the rights of our children in the face of those who have other agendas.
Scott,
How many other Illinois Superintendents are willing to speak out in your estimation? I think that to win, we need a broad-based movement that brings all constituencies together. In Chicago we have many organizations and we need better links between the city and the rest of the state to begin to rid ourselves of all of the Kochs in Illinois who have too much influence.
Please contact me if you get a chance: phorton@ucls.uchicago.edu
Here’s a brief newspaper column about an urban public school teacher who made a lot of difference in my life.
http://hometownsource.com/2013/09/04/joe-nathan-column-mr-hardy-student-couldnt-sing/
This column will be in a number of Minnesota suburban and rural papers over the next 10 days.
How has this teacher stood up for public education for *all students*? Diane’s “hero” tributes aren’t simply a “teacher of the year” schtick.
I should add, if Diane tried to spotlight every good teacher, she’d need about three and a half million posts to do it.
This teacher was presented as an example of what many fine teachers do.
As I listen to parents and students, I hear many examples of this. I also hear about public school teachers and counselors who told people of color they were not “college material.” I hear about teachers who belittled students in from of other student in the class. I could go on, but won’t.
There are a variety of teacher and schools – some very much deserve praise. Some urgently need changing, or in the case of schools – being closed or “reconstituted,” which means in some cases some new leadership, and in some cases some new leaders and new staff. Some teachers need to be encouraged to retire or find another job.
When I was an assistant principal in an urban public school, I encountered some great teachers and a few awful ones. There was one teacher who had a long time reputation for insulting and even striking African American students. Some people told me that we would not be able to get rid of him. Fortunately, after 2 years of intensive work and evaluations (which he had not had for years), he decided to retire early.
Though a number of teachers had been silent during this, a number of them came to me after this happened to say “thanks.” He was an embarrassment to the many fine teachers in that school.
Why can’t we have a superintendent like this in every public school. He knows where the true heroes work and why they work. Not for the great salary or plush benefits deformers say teacher try to protect, they do it because that’s what they like doing, it’s their career and they like working with students. Five weeks of training and two years of work will never give you this.
The survival of American public schools may well be in the hands of superintendents like Scott Kufell. ALL superintendents out there must collectively, state by state, follow this example.
We need you in Orange County California. Pick any district. Please come for my grandchildren’s future.
Mr. Kuffel, just by your response, you are a hero.