Editor's Note from Jerry Mintz: As you can see in the article below, the National Coalition of Alternative Community Schools has just announced its closing. I was involved with the NCACS for many years.
In some ways this stems from the meeting a few of us had with Jonathan Kozol in a church basement in Boston around 1974. We talked about creating a national organization of alternatives. The NCACS was created a few years later but the original organizers then dropped it a few years after that. Pat Montgomery of Clonlara then resurrected it.
I learned a lot from the NCACS after getting involved again in the 1980's and this helped in the creation of AERO, which in some ways continues its work.
Exit Stage Left by Pat Montgomery
Thirty six years ago the National Coalition of Alternative Community Schools opened its doors as a 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization. Its members are people who founded and/or staffed alternative schools and programs or home schools. They were then, and still are, dedicated to the precepts of the NCACS by-laws:
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empowering youngsters and adults to actively and collectively direct their own lives;
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placing the control of education in the hands of the learners-students, parents, teachers; and
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developing tools and skills to work for social justice.
These commitments marked the NCACS at the outset as one-of-a-kind. Over the years, more and more individuals and groups embraced the same beliefs to the point where, today, more people the world over practice and promote empowerment, self-directed learning, and social justice. The networking skills of Jerry Mintz, for example, have spread the word throughout the world. People in every clime who work for social justice and empowerment have coalesced. The forum of IDEC allows like-minded people to meet in person, to visit schools and programs in various parts of the globe, and to share. The work started by NCACS continues and reverberates through these and other similar efforts.
One of the treasures of the NCACS was its annual conference – from 1978 through 2009. In these assemblies, students of all ages, staff members from schools and programs, and parents presented workshops, seminars, and dramatic presentations, living and playing together for a week or so. All participated. The only restrictions to attending were in the regulation passed by those assembled at the Arizona gathering in 1983: no banned substances, no alcohol, and no objects which could be construed as weapons were permitted at any conference site, throughout the duration of the event. Youngsters from all over the U.S., from Canada, Japan, Columbia and from several other countries, were able to form friendships and stay in touch during the year. Talented youngsters – like Isaac, Takatomo, Angela, Eric, Webb and Josh and Kim (to cite but a few) – grabbed the banner of active participation in one's own learning processes and ran with it.
On April 1, 2014, the National Coalition quietly closed its doors with a tip of the hat to all of the AEROs and IDECs and IDEAs and others that carry on. Long may its principles prevail!
Pat Montgomery
April 2, 2014
