Desks on the Mall: A Plea to Candidates

Visitors to the National Mall in Washington, D.C. find their path obstructed as hundreds of school desks litter the area in a plea for presidential candidates to address the nation’s educational woes.

The effort, organized by the College Board, calls upon the major candidates to discuss and debate their plans for educational reform. The College Board launched the campaign on the National Mall with a public installation of 857 school desks, representing the 857 students who drop out of American schools every hour of every school day.

“‘Don’t Forget Ed’ recognizes that education is the foundation of our society. If our schools fail, then so will everything else, from our economy to national security,” said College Board President Gaston Caperton. “Yet every four years, the issue of education is shockingly underplayed on the campaign trail. That’s why this year we are encouraging candidates all over the country to tell voters precisely how they would reverse the sharp decline of American education. Parents, teachers, students and administrators have had enough of the silence. This year they are speaking loud and clear, and the College Board is committed to amplifying their voices.”

The campaign includes a Web site and a petition to be presented to the candidates at the nominating conventions. Volunteers braved near 100-degree temperatures to collect digital signatures via iPads.

 “We’re not criticizing any candidates, and we are not advocating a particular policy. We are mobilizing students and others to create a more visible constituency that wants education to be a prominent issue in the election,” said Peter Kauffmann, vice president of communications at the College Board.

A poll commissioned by the College Board in April 2012 found that 67 percent of voters in nine swing states believe education is an “extremely important” issue in the run-up to the general election.

More than 1.2 million students drop out of school every year, which averages out to 6,000 students every school day and 857 every hour. Recent data show that students in the U.S. rank 25th in math and 21st in science among students from 30 industrialized nations.

Article by Jason Tomaszewski, EducationWorld Associate Editor
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