Over the last several weeks, I had the opportunity to connect with two organizations that are working to increase Montessori Advocacy in local and state legislation. At the end of September, a colleague and I were in Leesburg Virginia attending the Montessori Public Policy Initiative’s (MMPI) annual conference. This year the theme was “Uniting Voices, Igniting Change for Montessori”. This is a theme I can get behind and it was inspiring to hear stories of the great work state advocacy groups have done in support of Montessori credentialing being recognized by state departments of education. A week later, I attended a gathering organized by the California Montessori Alliance (CMA). This group recently merged with the Bay Area Montessori Association to create support for Montessori schools and educators and organize to engage in Montessori policy work in California and is actively working with the legislature to recognize infant and primary Montessori training as equivalent to ECE units.
I attended both of these events, hoping they would be exactly what I needed: a place where public schools and those involved with public schools, could share our unique experiences, our shared obstacles, and collective problem-solving to call for changes that we need. While both events were inspiring in unique ways, this was not what I found. While I continue to be excited to engage with and support these organizations, in both gatherings, the attendees were primarily private Montessori educators and supporters and so the shared goal to “increase access to Montessori” meant something very different than what I had hoped.
For me, increasing access to Montessori means creating more public Montessori programs, from early childhood centers through high schools. Montessori learning should be available to EVERYONE, not just those who can afford it or those who are close to being able to afford it.
So what these other events clarified for me is that we need a place for California Public Montessori educators to meet. A place to connect and share experiences, resources, successes, and our needs. Then we can build up a unified public Montessori voice to advocate from.
At our first Meet and Greet last week I felt a connection that was missing in the other Montessori events I had attended. We were a small group, four schools from the Bay Area and Southern California, meeting for the first time, but we immediately found so much common ground. We shared ideas on how to support each other and greater Public Montessori. I left this meeting feeling inspired and wanting to connect more. Wanting to find more schools that have similar experiences to ours, similar struggles to ours, and the same solution - more Public Montessori Schools in California.
I can’t wait for this group to grow and to build stronger connections as we find ways to share resources, collectively problem-solve, and advocate for the needs of California Public Montessori Schools in more spaces!
Krishna Feeney, Executive Director PMIO
