The leading volunteers of the Educacion 2020 movement during a rally in downtown Santiago. (Courtesy Catalina Fernandez)

On a clear fall day in April 2009, downtown Santiago de Chile was flooded by a sea of green as hundreds of students descended upon the capital's Plaza de Armas. Dancing to the beat of live bands, they showed their support for Educación 2020, a Chilean grassroots movement dedicated to improving the country's lagging quality of education within the next decade. The movement's green t-shirts, banners, and slogan: ¡Se Acabó el Recreo! ("Recess is Over!") covered the public square as students, teachers, activists, and onlookers shared in the festive atmosphere. As several of the movement's leaders rose to speak, the green-clad crowd hushed in anticipation. Mario Waissbluth, the movement's founder, was followed on the podium by "citizen coordinator" Matías Reeves, a 25-year-old college student who described a "dream that began little by little."

Educación 2020 began in September 2008, when Waissbluth, a professor at the University of Chile, published an article in Qué Pasa, an influential Chilean magazine, making the case for several educational reforms. He pushed for increased salaries and other incentives for attracting new teachers, better training programs for administrators, and greater responsibility for both. Within days, his students began discussing the article in the hallways and sharing it on Facebook and in online forums. Less than two weeks later, word of the article had landed Waissbluth an invitation to one of Chile's most important talk shows, Tolerancia Cero. Waissbluth asked Reeves and a few other students to appear with him. As they tossed ideas around for the show, sharpening their proposals, a social movement was born.

Reeves, like all Educación 2020 volunteers, feels strongly about his country's educational plight. Though he was able to attend a good private school, Reeves' family's later financial difficulties forced his younger brothers into mediocre public schools, "crippling their destinies," Reeves said. Comparing their experiences to his own, he witnessed the scandalous inequalities within the Chilean education system. He noted the lack of well-qualified teachers, student motivation, and parental involvement, not to mention the bureaucratic inefficiency that made even getting textbooks a challenge for his brothers.

Much-needed education reform has stalled for years because proposals for change have ended in divisive political discussion rather than concrete action. Byzantine debates on issues such as the influence and demands of the teachers' unions, the morality of profit in education, and the feasibility of a government voucher system have lasted for decades. These ideological barriers have made past attempts at reform controversial and ultimately futile.

Militant and confrontational efforts also became bogged down by controversy. In 2006, for example, hundreds of thousands of students took to the streets, mainly demanding renewal of the constitutional clauses on educational funding and organization. Although the protests got the government's attention, long and fruitless debate over the politically sensitive content of the new clauses eroded student resolve. This left only the more radical, intransigent protesters, further preventing agreement and stalling reforms indefinitely. Likewise, frequent teacher strikes have wrested few concessions from the government, despite closing down schools for weeks, an obstacle for students and for working parents.

Educación 2020 is trying a different approach to the seemingly unsolvable task of reform. Instead of confrontation, the movement seeks consensus on achievable solutions. Through widespread agreement forged by discussion, persuasion, and grassroots activism, it hopes reforms will become immune to the shifting political winds.

To improve the quality of teachers, for instance, Educación 2020 proposes more stringent evaluations and a merit-based system of incentives. It also intends to tackle the source of the problem: the education of the teachers themselves. Hoping to attract more able educators, it proposes new scholarships and a tougher accreditation process for the universities and institutes that train teachers.

Thanks to support from across Chilean society, the movement's ideas have not been overlooked. Included in the government's budget for next year is funding for specialized administrator training programs, an Educación 2020 proposal. Catalina Fernández, a first-year law student and Educación 2020 activist, explained that "administrators often treat schools as personal fiefs and have no incentive to innovate." If the movement's success continues, a complete overhaul of the system, introducing greater liability for school officials who currently face little criticism and performance evaluation, might soon become reality.

The proposed initiatives not only cover the educational system itself, but also address parental involvement, a pillar vital to student success. Carmen Hermosilla, head of the group of parent volunteers at Educación 2020, explained that "parents generally have good will, but there is a lack of information about how to get involved in their children's education." With this in mind, Educación 2020 designed workshops and handbooks that encourage parents to establish PTAs and become more engaged in their children's schooling.

These signs of a real opportunity for change have motivated thousands of Chileans; within a year after its talk show debut, the movement had over fifty thousand supporters. Volunteer groups at high schools, at colleges, and throughout the nation have sprung out of nowhere. "When people start seeing that things are working, that something can be done, enthusiasm grows, and they want to join," said Reeves.

Educación 2020 has plastered Santiago with now-characteristic green posters, which catch people's attention through witty, tongue-in-cheek phrases such as "La Educasion Esta Vien," a sloppily-spelled attempt at "Education is Just Fine." The movement has also brought speakers to schools and universities, started an online radio show, and organized rallies. Organizers' efforts have paid off: Educación 2020 continues to grow in numbers and visibility. It has even gained support for its proposals among the candidates for December's presidential election.

Educación 2020's newfound influence, however, does not mean its path has been easy. The bitter political struggles of the past sometimes threaten to overrun its efforts. "One of our toughest problems," explained Fernández, "has been gaining support from the 'emblematic' public schools," the few selective quality institutions whose students have been the traditional supporters of education reform. "They are still embroiled in another fight, that of the student protests of 2006," she said, referring to the stalled efforts at constitutional reform that followed the demonstrations.

Although those students support most of Educación 2020's proposals, they express a valid fear that if the movement's reforms are accepted, other issues and controversies, such as the new constitutional clauses, will be forgotten. They don't want short-term solutions to make the country feel as if all educational problems have been solved when in reality reform is an ongoing process.

To counteract such a possibility, the movement's long-term goal is to maintain education issues at the forefront of policy beyond 2020 by becoming a permanent platform for debate and a lobby for future reforms and solutions.

Accustomed to the usual power plays, people are sometimes surprised by the grassroots nature of the movement. Friends of Fernández at the University of Chile, for example, were at one point convinced that the movement was really an instrument for bourgeois oppression. They told Fernández that she "didn't know what she was going into," and that if she "knew who was really behind it all," presumably big business or the government, then she would not be so enthusiastic. Amused, Fernández replied that she was behind it all!

For the first time, efforts to solve problems in Chile's educational system are not coming out of political confrontation, ambition, and division, but rather out of consensus and open participation. As Matías Reeves said, "People feel they are making a contribution to the country; they are doing it with passion."

The rapid growth and success of Educación 2020 has shown the country that a movement led by students like Fernández and Reeves, acting together with teachers and parents, can lead to viable reform. But the most difficult work may still lie ahead. Like many grassroots movements, Educación 2020 will face the challenge of continuing to garner popular support even after early enthusiasm has given way to the years of slow-paced perseverance required for lasting change. What will happen when rallies and hopeful slogans give way to the drudgery of legislation and political wrangling? Educación 2020 has the potential to change the face of Chilean education over the next 10 years and beyond. If the movement can continue to harness widespread support and passion when it is not so new, its proposals will become actions and reform a reality.

Diego Salvatierra is a freshman in Pierson College.

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