What I Tell These Young People Is,

If There Are Amazing Graces On This Earth, I Believe That They Are These Good Children Sent To Us By God And Not Yet Soiled By The Knowledge That Their Nation Does Not Love Them.

The Primary Victims Of Katrina, Those Who Were Given The Least Help By The Government, Those Rescued Last Or Not At All, Were Overwhelmingly People Of Color Largely Hidden From The Mainstream Of Society.

As Damaging As The Obsessive Emphasis On Testing Often Proves To Be For Kids In General, I Believe That The Effects Are Still More Harmful In Those Schools In Which The Resources Available To Help The Children Learn The Skills That Will Be Measured By These Tests Are Fewest, The Scores They Get Are Predictably The Lowest, And The Strategies Resorted To By Principals In Order To Escape The Odium Attaching To A Disappointing Set Of Numbers Tend To Be The Most Severe.

The Future Teachers I Try To Recruit Are Those Show Have Refused To Let Themselves Be Neutered In This Way, Either In Their Private Lives Or In The Lives That They Intend To Lead In School. When They Begin To Teach, They Come Into Their Classrooms With A Sense Of Affirmation Of The Goodness And The Fullness Of Existence, With A Sense Of Satisfaction In Discovering The Unexpected In Their Students, And With A Longing To Surprise The World, Their Kids, Even Themselves, With Their Capacity To Leave Each Place They've Been ... A Better And More Joyful Place Than It Was When They Entered It.

I Always Want To Tell These Young Idealists That The World Is Not As Dangerous As Many In The Older Generation Want Them To Believe...the [people] For Whom I Feel The Greatest Sadness Are The Ones Who Choke On Their Beliefs, Who Never Act On Their Ideals, Who Never Know The State Of Struggle In A Decent Cause, And Never Know The Thrill Of Even Partial Victories.