The amazing thing about the closing session of this year's fall forum and its discussion of the tenth principle was to see that youth is not represented on our board in any persuasive way: yes there was discussion about adding a student representative and yes there was a pointed question or two about representation on the board vis a vis people of color. But how does anyone stand up and say to say to that powerful and imposing group of people that they skew too old! There are everywhere in the CES coalition young teachers who are dynamic and razor sharp and unrelenting and innovative. Everywhere, that is, except the board I guess. is there a drive to more deeply involve more teachers in Public Education? Our schools are full of young intelligent women in their 20s and 30s. I recognise that boards frequently skew old (like our poll watchers) but can't the CES board be a little different? Could we ever place people on there in part because of their youth? After hearing Deb Meier explain that some are picked for color and geographic distribution, I guess youth too can be seen as a powerful attribute or key for admission. If the tenth is about equity, let's really search for it. A troubling trend this year at many sessions of the forum was for greybeards to stand and preface anything they had to say with a list of all they've done and accomplished in the past: It seemed just like the lord high Chamberlain in James Thurber's too funny and in this case too-true story about a king and a princess who keep hearing from each of the King's men of all the things they've done and accomplished in the past rather than let their ideas float freely in the arena of ideas, solutions, and opinions. It takes so much time to hear about everyone's list of how many times they have been right in the past, of what organization they started and why, and it undercuts the worth of the things other more humble people have to say. It charges their opinions with weight that might not otherwise seem merited. So many people shined their own apple this year.

-Michael Currier, public school teacher