When did consensus acquire such sacred status among folks committed to social change? Because as far as I can figure, no real social change ever occurred through consensus. Can you imagine Martin Luther King and Malcolm X spending days at conferences trying to obtain consensus on the root causes of segregation? Of course not. They had a view on how to fix it and they devoted themselves completely to that solution.

The dropout epidemic has been defined by John McCain and others as the civil rights issue of our time. Why then, do those of us fighting for that right spend so much time in conferences trying to get consensus on what to do?



As I go to more and more meetings about the dropout issue, I have come to see that many practitioners in this field care more about consensus than they do about results. We break into small groups and argue about things like whether racism, poverty, ill-equipped teachers, or uninvolved parents are the cause of poor performing schools. If we ever do agree on something, we leave the meeting with a smile and sense of accomplishment.

But nothing has changed.

Working together towards a common goal is a good thing. We can't create a better future for children in Southeast Michigan on our own. We need the partnership of teachers, administrators, parents, students and communities. But we have to value outcomes more than consensus if we are to make any real change at all.