Over these past eight years as your vice president and now president, I have repeatedly come back to two quotes that speak to our mission as educators, and as a union. They seem appropriate to share again in my last editorial for MTA Today.
The first is from our 1780 state Constitution, largely written by John Adams. Chapter V, Article II deserves to be read in full:
“Wisdom and knowledge, as well as virtue, diffused generally among the body of the people, being necessary for the preservation of their rights and liberties; and as these depend on spreading the opportunities and advantages of education in the various parts of the country, and among the different orders of the people, it shall be the duty of legislatures and magistrates, in all future periods of this commonwealth, to cherish the interests of literature and the sciences, and all seminaries of them; especially the university at Cambridge, public schools and grammar schools in the towns; to encourage private societies and public institutions, rewards and immunities, for the promotion of agriculture, arts, sciences, commerce, trades, manufactures, and a natural history of the country; to countenance and inculcate the principles of humanity and general benevolence, public and private charity, industry and frugality, honesty and punctuality in their dealings; sincerity, good humor, and all social affections, and generous sentiments, among the people.”
It is this line in particular – “it shall be the duty of legislatures and magistrates, in all future periods of this commonwealth, to cherish the interests of literature and the sciences, and all seminaries of them” – that has been the foundation of our state’s commitment that all young people get a public education. But not any public education, rather, one that demonstrates we are honoring the demand to “cherish” our public schools.
And think about how far our state bureaucrats have drifted from the goals of education laid out here: “to countenance and inculcate the principles of humanity and general benevolence … and all social affections, and generous sentiments, among the people.” This is a vision of public education that nurtures creative adults, committed citizens and community-minded neighbors.
The other quote I keep coming back to is from 1846, written by Horace Mann, Secretary to the Massachusetts Board of Education. He was explaining the source of Massachusetts’ success as a state.
“One copious, exhaustless fountain supplies all this abundance. It is education — the intellectual, moral, and religious education of the people. Having no other mines to work, Massachusetts has mined into the human intellect; and, from its limitless resources, she has won more sustaining and enduring prosperity and happiness than if she had been founded on a stratification of silver and gold, reaching deeper down than geology has yet penetrated.”
As a Commonwealth, we have committed to public education from the start of the nation, and we have recognized that public education is a nation-building institution, carrying young people from their earliest years to adulthood, citizenship, creativity and public service.
What is missing from these two quotes is who is doing the “cherishing,” who is achieving the “education of the people.” It is you, my beloved MTA members, this generation’s educators, the latest in some 16 generations of educators who came before you, building on nearly 400 years of public schools in Massachusetts, creating a beacon for the rest of our nation. T
Max Page, MTA President
