Who takes in the child who has behavior problems, is inadequately clothed, a gang member, an immigrant, who has a disability or no home?
The public schools.And as Forrest "Frosty" Troy put it to Utah school board members Friday, that's why America's public education system is great.
"Name me one other institution that would open 88,000 doors and say, 'We don't care what color your are . . . if you're mentally retarded or average. You come on in,' " said Troy, editor of the Oklahoma Observer, an independent journal of politics, government and social issues. "Education is a silver bullet . . . it defines us. It's what we are as a people."
The sometimes irreverent pep talk kicked off the Utah School Boards Association convention, which lasts through Saturday and features speakers including National School Boards Association president Barbara Wheeler and Gov. Mike Leavitt. Workshops range from school law to raising the bar on student achievement.
Troy, also a commentator for National Public Radio, is angered by national discourse on the so-called failing public school system. After researching the system, he concludes that schools actually are educating more students and doing a better job than ever before.
"We have problems in public education. I'm not Polyanna about that," he told about 400 school board and district representatives. "We're graduating more kids from public education and graduating . . . more kids from college than ever before. . . . Who tells that story?"
Scholastic Achievement Test scores are at a 25-year high; American College Test scores are at a six-year high, Troy said. But too much emphasis should not be placed on test scores, he adds, as they are just one measure in several, and a mere snapshot of student performance.
"Voucher is another way of spelling segregation, but not along racial lines -- along class lines," Troy said to applause.
"Just keep your dukes off the public-school treasury. We don't have enough money."