From: toby@patternliteracy.com
I do think it's time for a national Pc organization in the US, ....
Questions need to be answered before the process can begin:
1. What is the function of the organization? To police teachers and enforce how the curriculum is taught, to get accreditation or other clout behind the certificate, to offer a clearing house for course resources, to raise money for Pc projects, or something else?
2. How will people find the time and money to begin the organizing process? We're all busy, so how do we make time to meet? And setting up a non-profit takes lawyers, a website, and other things that cost money. Do the original organizers just dig into their pockets and pay, and take time away from other projects that may be more promising than one more try at organizing? (I shelled out a couple hundred bucks of my own money for WPTA and it's simply gone.)
3. Who gets to organize it? Even the creation of an interim board causes a certain amount of resentment among those not on the board. And how do you draw committed and talented people to the organizing committee who will stick with it? All it took to kill WPTA was for a couple of the organizers to get too busy to reply to a couple of critical emails, and the project stalled. You need those one or two people who will spearhead and drive something to its end no matter what. That really means giving up all your other projects. You must find someone willing to make that level of commitment.
4. How are decisions made? As Jedd said, majority rule can mean 49% or more may disagree with a decision, and consensus done as a national (non-face-to-face) organization would be pretty time consuming.
Another challenge may be a lack of understanding how (and why) to structure a grass-roots, fairly anarchic movement into a national organization. But I would support, and even aid, an effort to do so.
Toby
http://patternliteracy.com
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