Where is the outrage?
Gorgeous day in Seattle, WA. The drive over the West Seattle Bridge to the Abeo School Change (www.abeoschoolchange.org) offices near the Space Needle were breathtaking!
My heart aches...actually bleeds with physical pain because we have failed as a local community, state and nation. Where is the public, moral outrage for the schools that are failing our kids? Why haven't I done more? Why haven't we ALL done more?
Don't get me wrong-There are many great schools and many great teachers. I'm convinced I had a few as a student. The point is-we have NOT moved to a place in this nation where we can guarantee every child a high quality public education. Worse yet, too frequently the kids and communities that need the best teachers and principals are denied. The continual perpetuation of classism and racism in our country crushes my spirit as a father of six and a public school educator of thousands.
I was struck yesterday at the sense of relief now that George Zimmerman has been arrested and charged in the senseless murder of Trayvon Martin. That was outrage! For a moment, our country rallied around the seemingly senseless murder of a young black man in Florida. The media went crazy-liberals and conservatives both seemed to at least be willing to ask the common question, "How could this happen in one of our communities in 2012?"
Think back one month to the KONY 2012 campaign-What an outcry! One video goes viral exposing the atrocities of one man in one country, thousands of miles away who has been responsible for the death of thousands. Entire communities in our great nation rallied and challenged each other to do more to expose this man and help bring him to justice.
Where is the OUTRAGE?
70% of the 8th graders in America cannot read proficiently...most will never catch up
43.5 million people in the US are illiterate
6,000 students drop out each day in the US...one every 26 seconds
1.2 million students drop out of high school every year
65% of US convicts are dropouts and lack of education is one of the strongest predictors of criminal activity
Less than 50% of our children of color and kids born into poverty ever graduate from high school
The economic implications of our failures in education are monumental
The social/emotional implications of not meeting kids' needs educationally are catastrophic
Where is the OUTRAGE?
We know what needs to be done to fix the education system in Seattle, in Washington State and in the United States of America.
In the 1978 Ron Edmonds, said, "We can whenever, and wherever we choose, successfully teach all children whose schooling is of interest to us. We already know more than we need, in order to do this. Whether we do it must finally depend on how we feel about the fact that we haven’t so far."
Mr. Edmonds answered the question years ago. We as a nation, state and community don't yet feel the outrage at the social injustice that calls us to action. We have not yet answered the altar call that moves us to action. We have not yet began to care about every child as much as our own.
I commit to do more today than I did yesterday as both a father and educator, and more tomorrow than I did today, and more next week than this week. I must. We must. Our voices must speak clearly and loudly about the moral urgency to do right by our children...ALL our children.
Quality education is a civil right.
Where is the OUTRAGE?
70% of the 8th graders in America cannot read proficiently...most will never catch up
43.5 million people in the US are illiterate
6,000 students drop out each day in the US...one every 26 seconds
1.2 million students drop out of high school every year
65% of US convicts are dropouts and lack of education is one of the strongest predictors of criminal activity
Less than 50% of our children of color and kids born into poverty ever graduate from high school
The economic implications of our failures in education are monumental
The social/emotional implications of not meeting kids' needs educationally are catastrophic
Where is the OUTRAGE?
We know what needs to be done to fix the education system in Seattle, in Washington State and in the United States of America.
In the 1978 Ron Edmonds, said, "We can whenever, and wherever we choose, successfully teach all children whose schooling is of interest to us. We already know more than we need, in order to do this. Whether we do it must finally depend on how we feel about the fact that we haven’t so far."
Mr. Edmonds answered the question years ago. We as a nation, state and community don't yet feel the outrage at the social injustice that calls us to action. We have not yet answered the altar call that moves us to action. We have not yet began to care about every child as much as our own.
I commit to do more today than I did yesterday as both a father and educator, and more tomorrow than I did today, and more next week than this week. I must. We must. Our voices must speak clearly and loudly about the moral urgency to do right by our children...ALL our children.
Quality education is a civil right.
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