When I Was Young, I

The Ones I Pity Are The Ones Who Never Stick Out Their Neck For Something They Believe, Never Know The Taste Of Moral Struggle, And Never Have The Thrill Of Victory.

When I Was Teaching In The 1960s In Boston, There Was A Great Deal Of Hope In The Air. Martin Luther King Jr. Was Alive, Malcolm X Was Alive; Great, Great Leaders Were Emerging From The Southern Freedom Movement.

I Emphasize Teachers Because They Are Largely Left Out Of The Debate. None Of The Bombastic Reports That Come From Washington And Think Tanks Telling Us What Needs To Be 'fixed' - I Hate Such A Mechanistic Word, As If Our Schools Were Automobile Engines - Ever Asks The Opinions Of Teachers.

By Far The Most Important Factor In The Success Or Failure Of Any School, Far More Important Than Tests Or Standards Or Business-model Methods Of Accountability, Is Simply Attracting The Best-educated, Most Exciting Young People Into Urban Schools And Keeping Them There.

Apartheid Education, Rarely Mentioned In The Press Or Openly Confronted Even Among Once-progressive Educators, Is Alive And Well And Rapidly Increasing Now In The United States.