All of our kids, ready for life
Rise Up for Students is a blog advocating for racial equity and radical empathy in our schools, in Seattle and beyond
By Matt Halvorson
I’m not sure we need to retain Juneau, and I’m not sure we need to let her go. I just feel that it only makes sense to let Juneau go if we are fully committed to being this hard on every part of the System — only if we are finally we are committed to transforming everything — right now.
Read MoreAyyyyyyeeeee!
As 2017’s time on this earth fades to black, 2018 is waiting to take its place in the sun. As I mined through the events of 2017 — from national disgraces to local blemishes, there are many themes at a macro level that I believe will forever be attached to the year 2017: sexual assault, overt racism, and youth suicides.
Many events grabbed my attention throughout the year, but the themes that bore down and pierced my core derive from behaviors that I’d like to leave in 2017. For instance, America’s fleeting appreciation of Black women, the stance against charter schools and the families who choose them by the “oldest and boldest” civil rights organization in America, and the complicity of those witnessing egregious acts without saying a word.
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"As we greet a new school year and say goodbye to another summer, I can’t help but notice that the rabid fervor over charter schools in Washington State has mostly flamed out.
At this time last year, everyone was still up in arms. The Washington Education Association had just led the filing of another lawsuit against the charter sector in an effort to maintain its monopoly on free public education.
Our state attorney general had just entered the fray, and the NAACP had issued its first suggestion of a nationwide moratorium on charter schools.
By February of this year, however, a judge had ruled in favor of charter schools, and the several months since have seen them slip — at last — out of the limelight for a moment. "
Read MoreBlack parents do not have time for this distracting “divide and conquer” strategy pitting the NAACP Moratorium versus education reformers.
News flash: the pre-K-through-12 education system is not about the grown folk and their feelings! It is about ensuring all children, regardless of their zip code have equitable access to safe school environments and quality educational opportunities – period!
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