Necessary and Expedient
U.S. Constitution, Article II, Section 3
“He shall from time to time give to Congress information of the State of the Union and recommend to their Consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient.”
I started writing this note earlier in the week just as President Obama was finishing his State of the Union address—a moment each year that requires a deft balance of leadership and politics. I was struck by two of the themes of this address, both of which, in my opinion, fit the “necessary and expedient” requirement—collaboration and preparation for an unknown and uncertain future. Hard to argue with the importance of these two goals yet also hard to understand why they are held out as so difficult to achieve. You should expect us to foster these essential habits in your children each day. We certainly expect to see them in the students’ behavior. I accept that our current two party system is inherently antagonistic—bringing together officials who represent a variety of viewpoints and beliefs, people who may strongly disagree with one another. I accept that their work is hard and that sometimes compromise represents loss and, therefore, may be unwanted. I would suggest that, as we teach your children, there is often a larger purpose than the obvious “us vs. them” and that no matter how hard it is to get along, no matter how easy it is to get lost in the immediate details, no matter how much we may want to win the day, in order to be successful communities must find a way to communicate, to hear each other, to see the world for a moment through the experience of another whose life is quite different from your and to focus on the larger issues. For many of us, in our personal and professional lives, there is no choice but to create alliances and to get along. I don’t know why our elective representatives allow themselves to opt out of this most reasonable of expectations. I can’t imagine a discussion with the students, of any age, in which they counted sitting next to someone they disagreed with as a significant accomplishment. We don’t call this a momentous achievement. We call it lunch.
We also watch your children preparing for an uncertain future. We see them making connections between various disciplines; between what is happening at home and what is happening in the classroom. They solve complex problems. They are self-reflective and bold. They are willing to take risks and are supportive of their classmates. Not only do we expect these behaviors each day, we actually see them each day. Very much the stuff of progressive education. You should be proud of your children. Ultimately, what we need is more LREI graduates sitting in the hallowed halls of government.
On a different note, as many of you know our high school juniors and seniors are able to apply to take a class at New York University as part of the NYU College Preview Program. These students take on the full workload of a college course in addition to their six major subjects at LREI and whatever extracurricular commitments they have made. The seniors are also in the thick of the college application process. Attendance and requirements for the NYU classes are the same as they are for “official” college students and only the professor knows that they are high school students. The LREI students who took courses at NYU last semester are:
• Lidor Foguel—Calculus II
• Rachard Kemp—Black Urban Studies
• Aaron Naves—Black Urban Studies
• Luca Schliemann—African Cultures
• Grace Tobin—History of Modern Ireland II
• Ian Tsang—Developmental Psychology Across the Lifespan
Each of these students earned an A or B in their course. Congratulations on a job well done!
Finally, by now most of you have received your re-enrollment contract(s) for the 2011-2012 school year. If you have not, you will quite soon. If you have, a reminder that these documents are due back to us by February 1st, 2011, next Tuesday. Please do not hesitate to contact Michel de Konkoly Thege, Associate Director, or me with questions.
Best,
Phil