Michael Klonsky (born 1943) is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

educator A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. w ...

, author, and

political activist A political movement is a collective attempt by a group of people to change government policy or social values. Political movements are usually in opposition to an element of the status quo, and are often associated with a certain ideology. Some ...

. He is known for his work with the

Students for a Democratic Society Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) was a national student activist organization in the United States during the 1960s and was one of the principal representations of the New Left. Disdaining permanent leaders, hierarchical relationships a ...

, the

New Communist Movement The New Communist movement (NCM) was a diverse left-wing political movement during the 1970s and 1980s in the United States. The NCM were a movement of the New Left that represented a diverse grouping of Marxist–Leninists and Maoists inspired ...

, and, later, the

small schools movement The small schools movement, also known as the Small Schools Initiative, in the United States of America holds that many high schools are too large and should be reorganized into smaller, autonomous schools of no more than 400 students, and optimall ...

Political activism

Klonsky's father,

Robert Klonsky Robert Klonsky (12 March 1918 – September 7, 2002) was an American communist activist and member of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, which fought on the side of the Spanish Republicans in the Spanish Civil War. Biography Klonsky was born in 19 ...

, a World War II veteran who had fought as a volunteer against the

Nationalists Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation, Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Theory, Id ...

during the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

, had been arrested and convicted of "conspiring to advocate Marxist views" in violation of the

Smith Act The Alien Registration Act, popularly known as the Smith Act, 76th United States Congress, 3rd session, ch. 439, , is a United States federal statute that was enacted on June 28, 1940. It set criminal penalties for advocating the overthrow of ...

during the McCarthy period. The Supreme Court later overturned the case. In the late 1960s Klonsky became the national secretary of the

,. which he joined as a student at San Fernando Valley State College (now California State University, Northridge). He was one of five S.D.S. members arrested on May 12, 1969, when "anonymous false reports of fire and a shooting" sent police and firefighters to the S.D.S. offices in Chicago. In the 1970s he became a leader of the

which broke with the older

Communist Party USA The Communist Party USA (CPUSA), officially the Communist Party of the United States of America, also referred to as the American Communist Party mainly during the 20th century, is a communist party in the United States. It was established ...

and its allegiance to the Soviet Union. He headed the Communist Party (Marxist–Leninist), in which role he was one of the first U.S. political activists to visit the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. Klonsky later became critical of Marxist dogma but stayed active in civil rights, anti-war and educational reform politics.

Education research

Klonsky became one of the leaders of the modern

. His academic work focused on small school size as a solution to the problems of inner city schools; his early research on issues of school size and its impact on student achievement, school violence, and dropout rates, helped pave the way towards the development of thousands of new small and charter schools across the country. By 1996, he was the director of the Small Schools Workshop at the

University of Illinois, Chicago The University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) is a public research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its campus is in the Near West Side community area, adjacent to the Chicago Loop. The second campus established under the Universi ...

, and in 1999, he was named by president

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...

to the Academic Advisory Council of the National Campaign Against Youth Violence, where he advocated small schools as a mechanism for violence reduction. Klonsky is now a retired professor of education after teaching at several universities, including UIC and the Fischler School of Education at

Nova Southeastern University Nova Southeastern University (NSU) is a Private university, private research university in Florida with its main campus in Fort Lauderdale-Davie, Florida, Davie, Florida, United States. The university consists of 14 colleges, offering over ...

References

External links

Mike Klonsky's Small Talk Blog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Klonsky, Michael Small schools movement Youth empowerment people American anti–Vietnam War activists Members of Students for a Democratic Society American communists University of Illinois Chicago faculty 1943 births Living people