I remember Lee Iacocca from commercials in the 80's saying, "If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always got." Remarkably, he managed to convince the American public that the K-car was the answer, which kept Chrysler afloat until they could invent the minivan segment - which was, after all, a K-car underneath. He also said in those commercials, "Either lead, follow, or get out of the way."
For now, at least, I'm choosing the latter, and putting both Innovation Maine and the project that it grew out of it, Maine Enterprise Schools, on hiatus. For more than two years (or, depending on how you count, 18) I've worked assiduously on both local and state levels with the fundamental assumption that Maine's public schools would be better off leading innovation than having it forced upon them.
Since that day, our approach has depended on negotiating agreements with existing public school districts. We have not accomplished that, despite coming close many times. No agreements for the 2009 school year, for the 2010 school year, or for the 2011 school year. And while we've had credible offers to fund pilots programs as private schools, I've held firm that the work we do must situate these schools as viable options for any student in any community in which we work. As John Dewey wrote nearly 100 years ago, "What the best and wisest parent wants for his own child, that must the community want for all of its children. Any other ideal for our schools is narrow and unlovely; acted upon, it destroys our democracy."
