Education Week - February 17, 2016 - 28

COMMENTARY
DISPATCH FROM FLINT, MICH.

Our Water Crisis Is a Crisis of Trust

A

t Mott Community College,
where I teach writing, the fall
semester began as usual, with
only one noticeable difference:
Above the many drinking fountains frequently in use, now
there were signs warning students and staff about the safety
of the water. This didn't come as a big surprise to
many students, over 80 percent of whom are "in
district," and many of whom have graduated from
the Flint, Mich., public schools. Given the college's
location in close proximity to downtown Flint,
Mott's water was supplied by the now-infamous
Flint water system.
During my class, as we explored the genre of
argument, one student considered writing about
the city's water issue. He looked hesitant, unsure
whether it was a worthy subject. "They say the water's OK," he added. "I don't think it is. I live here."
He was right. In late September, just a few days
after this class, Mona Hanna-Attisha, a pediatrician at Flint's Hurley Medical Center, released a
report showing that for children under the age of
5, the rate of elevated lead concentration in their
blood had doubled and, in some cases, even tripled
since the city switched from Detroit Water and
Sewerage Department water to Flint River water
a year prior. Within a couple of weeks, Dan Wyant,
the director of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, announced that water at three
public schools tested above the safety standard
set by the federal government. The state called for
parents and families to have their children's blood
tested.
Understandably, Flint families were frightened
for their kids, as the realization that the city's
water had been poisoned for months started to
settle in. Was it a mistake? An oversight?

Jake May/The Flint Journal-MLive.com via AP

By Arina Bokas

At Carriage Town Ministries, Ombi Wilbert, 1, walks into the restroom to wash her hands before receiving a free lead test earlier this
month in Flint, Mich.

"

The U.S. Congress and other arms of the government may still be working to determine who is responsible for the contamination, but my students
have already figured one thing out. To them, it is
not a "water" issue; it is a betrayal of trust, and it is
deeply personal. "Will the public come to trust the
city again after this disaster?" wrote one of them.
"Will the public come to trust our state?"
I can detect the pain of disillusionment and panic
in their questions, as if some internal values had
been shaken to the very core. They are losing this
sacred, foundational faith that younger generations
have always been taught to have in adults, especially those holding a public office with the power
to serve and protect them.
In recent years, there has been a lot of talk in
education about trust. To succeed in a world where

| INSIDE |

20

INCREASED
ACCOUNTABILITY OF
TEACHER PREP GIVES
EQUITY THE BACK SEAT

AP Photo/Carlos Osorio

To foster family and
community partnerships with
schools, trust is not an option;
it is the foundation."
social systems and cultures are quickly evolving,
where nothing that happens in one part of the
world can stay hidden from another part of the
world, young people have to develop confidence in
our institutions and in each other. As educators,
we nurture in our students dispositions for benevolence, honesty, openness, reliability, and competence. We explain to them why, in our interconnected world, we have to rely on one another and
how important it is to do our part well. We encourage collaboration in our classrooms.
But it goes deeper than that. Student learning is
profoundly connected to other processes happening
inside a human body. Our experiences shape who
we are. What students experience in their lives outside the classroom affects their disposition inside
the classroom, influencing their ability to learn and

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28 | EDUCATION WEEK | February 17, 2016 | www.edweek.org/go/commentary

SELF-CARE IS
THE EDUCATOR'S
CORE STANDARD

Brian Jones, a
registered nurse,
draws blood from
Grayling Stefek, 5,
at Eisenhower
Elementary School
last month in Flint.

21

have confidence in others. They are deeply affected
by family beliefs and values.
For decades, research has shown that students
learn best when schools and families work together. One of the main reasons schools struggle
to create partnerships with the parental community is a lack of public confidence in school effectiveness, teacher competence, and the integrity
of school leaders. To foster family and community
partnerships with schools, trust is not an option; it
is the foundation.
As we-teachers, school administrators, and district leaders-strive to develop mutual trust with
families and communities, there is one important
thing to realize: We, too, represent the official
power in the eyes of those who depend on us to do
things right. When someone fails to live up to that
responsibility, we all fail in the public's eye.
In 2007, ASCD's Commission on the Whole Child
delineated six out-of-school factors that impede
kids' learning: low birthweight and nongenetic
prenatal influences on children; inadequate medical, dental, and vision care; food insecurity; environmental pollutants; family relations and stress;
and neighborhood characteristics. How many of
these factors have been affected in Flint in the last
18 months as a result of lead consumption is still
largely unknown.
What does seem clear, however, is that such a
high-profile betrayal of trust by public officials has,
to a certain degree, affected all of us. n
ARINA BOKAS is a faculty member in the English
department at Mott Community College, in Flint, Mich.
She is currently the vice president of the Bailey Lake
Elementary School PTA and the host of a local cable-TV
series, 'The Future of Learning.'

BEWARE THE
RACIST SUBTEXT
OF CHILDREN'S
BOOKS

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Education Week - February 17, 2016

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