I had the great fortune of being raised by a loving family. They instilled in me certain values that shaped me into the person I am today. None of the adults in my family had much of a formal education though. My grandfather, for example, came to our country at the age of 10 with about a fifth grade education. He was a water boy on the railroad and later became a shoemaker.

My father never graduated from high school either. He fixed wrecked cars for a living and eventually owned his own shop–“Mazzola’s Body Shop.” It never had running water or central heat. During the winter, he burned coal in a pot-belly stove to warm the place up. I loved hanging out at his shop, and I learned a lot, too. Most people don’t know it, but I’ve painted cars, changed engines, installed transmissions, and I still service my own vehicles. In fact, I’m doing a brake job on my son’s car this weekend.

Oh. I forgot to mention why my dad never graduated from high school. He quit at the start of his senior year to go fight in World War II with his older brothers. You see, service to the nation was just one of the values stressed in our family. Since that was the case, it was an easy decision for me to enlist in the Air Force when I got older, even though it was very unpopular at the time.

Although I planned on doing my hitch and then moving on, I ended up spending more than 25 years in uniform. I did so because I loved being part of something meaningful, I loved working with honorable men and women, and I loved the fact that my organization stressed many of the same values I learned at home: Integrity, Service and Excellence.

Every year in November we celebrate Veterans Day. This year, encourage your students to reach out to veterans in your community. Besides having them thank the vets for their service, have them ask about the core values the vets lived by and how those values impacted their personal character. And, after Veterans Day, have the students share what they learned. I think you’ll find this can be a powerful character-building experience…and that’s what all good character educators look for!

Thanks for all you do to develop young men and women of good character for our world.

I was struck by Linda Darling Hammond’s statistics–we have 5% of the world’s population, but 25% of its prison inmates. She compared how little we spend per pupil for education to how much more we spend to house prisoners. I was moved by Jonathan Kozol’s comparison to his marching with Martin Luther King, and how sad it is that the inequalities in education are as bad as ever. And I agreed with everything Diane Ravitch had to say. It all sounded so common sensical. I just don’t understand why everone doesn’t get it. But clearly, they don’t. Hence, the march.

Most surprising was the closing speaker, Matt Damon.  His speech was quite moving.  He said, “ As I look at my life today, the things I value most about myself — my imagination, my love of acting, my passion for writing, my love of learning, my curiosity — all come from how I was parented and taught….and none of these qualities …  … can be tested.”

That was one of the main themes of the day, how standardized testing is crowding out so many more important aspects of teaching. My favorite signs addressed this theme. I liked the one that said, “Teaching isn’t a job; it’s a treasure hunt.”  Finding the treasure in each student–nice image.

Another sign: “Do we want standardized students?” I don’t think so. We want scientists, artists, builders, writers, dreamers, the full array of human potential.

But my favorite was the one whose art captured so well what many were feeling.

When Matt Damon finished his speech, we began the march to the White House. Our timing was unfortunate, as most eyes were probably focused on Congress trying to find a way to resolve the debt ceiling crisis. But this only made the comparisons I heard even more poignant:  “AYP for Congress. Let them show 100% proficiency by 2014.”

According to Interim Superintendent Erroll B. Davis Jr., Atlanta Public Schools will work toward achieving “a culture of integrity” as well as a “more open and transparent culture” among its schools, administrators, and teachers.  Too little, too late?  Certainly not. It’s a monumental step in the right direction, and CEP would like to offer information and resources to help the Atlanta Public Schools however possible.  Character educators know that even after a scandal of epic proportions such as this, it’s never too late to embrace our proper role as models and show our students that we, too, make mistakes sometimes (big ones, even).  And that we, as adults, can step up to the plate, do the right thing, hold our head up high, and keep on going.  Let’s show our students the right way to do things, and the right reason for doing them. Let’s bring integrity and ethics back into ALL our schools, let’s acknowledge where these qualities are lacking, and let’s take steps to show our nation’s impressionable youth how to act with integrity, character, and pride in our work. 

These students who watched our nation’s educators make colossal mistakes are our leaders of tomorrow.  They’ve witnessed the actions, they’ve seen the carnage that resulted, and now they’re watching what we’re all doing in the aftermath.  Let’s stop pointing fingers, casting blame, and castigating Atlanta Public Schools.  Let’s applaud them for taking the right steps in their commitment to creating a culture of integrity in their schools, and let’s help them succeed.