On their visits to dozens of public schools across the United States in the 1980s, arts educators Anne Dunkin and Bradford Willis got an up close and personal view of the American education system.

To their eyes, it wasn’t a pretty picture.

“One thing that kept impressing me was the tremendous disparity in public education from one state to another. It was just unbelievable at times. Some programs were so enriched and so strong and others were completely weak,” said Dunkin, a longtime dance educator.

Since the husband-and-wife writing team abandoned the touring life in favor of a more sedentary lifestyle in Wilmington, Del., that disparity has only widened. In an effort to publicize some of the more pervasive problems in the U. S. education system, Dunkin and Willis wrote the play “Left Holding the Mop,” which had its world premiere on Thursday at Alleyway Theatre. Alleyway founder and Artistic Director Neal Radice directs the show.

The play centers on the story of a bright-eyed and idealistic young teacher — played by Laura Bevilacqua — who enters the public school system with dreams of changing the world but soon runs up against a series of daunting obstacles.

Though it never mentions specific legislation, the piece is an obvious critique of the “teach-to-the-test” philosophy that has become the status quo in many public schools since the passage of the federal No Child Left Behind Act in 2001. Still, Dunkin said, she and Willis made every effort to wrap that message in an entertaining package.

“We tried very hard to make it a comedy, and secondly we hope very much that the audience will really be able to empathize with the central character ... and understand her dilemmas,” Dunkin said. “There’s a universal theme here: the whistle-blower who has this conviction about something and has to decide if she’s going to follow her conviction or follow other people.”

For Kate Oleana, a local actor who plays five roles in the show and a theater teacher at Nichols Middle School, Dunkin and Willis’ work tells an important story about the strengths and failures of public education. Though she teaches in a private school that faces few of the problems that crop up in underfunded public schools, Oleana has specific insight into the issues the play confronts.

“They’re trying to standardize every kid, and not every kid learns the same way. Kids need different approaches in order to learn and to solve problems and think creatively and adapt to new situations,” Oleana said of the public education system, where she began her career. “That’s what real learning is about.”

“It’s the system that’s the bad guy in this play,” Oleana said. “It’s not even the teachers who are cynical or the teachers who cheat or who get set up, and it’s not the paper-pushers and the office administrators. It’s not the parents who are trying to do the best for their kid. Those are all victims of this system that’s been built up.”

Both Dunkin and Oleana stressed that the play doesn’t aim to demonize individuals, even those paper-pushing administrators, cynical teachers and cheaters who populate the play. It’s the philosophy — one that ties funding dollars to standardized tests — that’s being put on trial in “Left Holding the Mop.” The show is also a paean to the individual teachers who, against all odds, manage to triumph over a system that seems designed to beat them down.

“There’s a certain lack of intelligence there,” Oleana said of the dreaded “No Child Left Behind” philosophy. “People don’t do this for incentive. Heck, if we wanted to make money, we wouldn’t be teachers. It’s a calling, it’s something that you want to throw yourself into because you have a passion for your subject and you have a delight in young people learning. There’s no test for that.”

PREVIEW

WHAT: “Left Holding the Mop”

WHEN: Through Nov. 21

WHERE: Alleyway Theatre, One Curtain Up Alley.

TICKETS: $25 or $15 for students

INFO: 852-2600, www.alleyway.com