Sometimes Wrong is Just Wrong

The state of Connecticut has the greatest disparity on standardized test scores between African Americans and Caucasian students.  So a homeless mother, wanting her son to have a chance - she uses her babysitters address enabling her son to enroll in Norwood Academy.  Norwood Academy has fine test scores.  It is a predominantly white school.  The Academy is in a predominantly white community.  From September, the first grade boy attended the Academy.  Then the babysitter was evicted. She was evicted for having more people living in her apartment than her lease allowed.  Of course that wasn't the case - the Mom was only using the address for the betterment of her son's education.  When the school found out they asked the mother to take her child out of the school.  When she did not do that, they expelled her son.  The mother was arrested for Grand Theft Larceny.  She faces 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $25,000 dollars.  The Mother now lives in a van.  Her son is staying with relatives in Bridgeport.  I am not sure, however I believe Bridgeport to be an upper class neighborhood.  Upon her arrest the mother was told if she had identified herself as homeless her son would have been allowed to enroll in any school.  Technically she broke the law - technically that is.  What parent would not do the same? Every parent wants their child to have a better life.  It is in the parental genetic code.  The Mom is not an angel.  She has other criminal charges against her for drug possession with intent to sell.  So she might not win mother of the year.  In her own cycle of crime and failure she still found a way for her son to have a better opportunity.  For this she faces more jail time than for the drug charges.  It has been my assertion a school is just a building, it is the teacher in the classroom whom makes the difference.  In the lowest socio-economic neighborhoods you may fine the greatest of teachers.  Often times you will find lousy teachers with tenure who don't even pretend to teach.  It is the argument often used against unions.  It is a valid argument.  In the case of this woman - REALLY? Is there so little crime in Connecticut, they have time to prosecute this woman? Fraud, larceny, please - she was trying to give her son a chance.  Perhaps she knew her time out of jail was fleeting.  Perhaps she wanted to open doors for her child - Perhaps she was using the system which was denying her son the best educational opportunity - the one he deserved.  The education all our children deserve! Where is the outrage? The past week, our media has been filled with stories of Donald Trump's proof of idiocy and the Royal Wedding.  One is amusing the other, OK, so they got married.  Where has this story been buried.  Where is Al Sharpton when there is real discrimination taking place? How in the world are we going to fix our education system? Opportunity should be the same for everyone.  Every school must offer quality education for every child.  That is not so.  Can anyone tell me why? First, we need to get politicians out of the way - we need to place proven educators in charge of our education system.  We need individuals in neighborhoods, in school, on the streets - people who will advocate for every child.  We need to develop an level playing field, no matter where the school, we must hold every teacher to certain minimal standards.  Not standardized tests; they prove nothing.  They are neither valid or reliable.  Of all the assembled committees in Washington, where is the education committee? Who is on it - I have to look into that. So this Mom is going to do jail time.  Her son will go to whatever school is within the parameters of his new residence, and none of it makes a lick of sense.  This story was in the BBC news, a small piece in the NYT - If the woman admitted she was homeless her child could have enrolled in any school.  Children should not live in vans.  Mothers should not be arrested because they are trying to offer their child more open doors.  Yet another example of how we are failing.  It does not have to be this way.  We are still the greatest nation on the planet! It takes each of us, as individuals, each of us as human beings, we have to reach out - we have to dirty our hands and rattle some cages.  We get ours and it becomes easy to close our eyes to what is around us.  This just has to stop! We cannot continue allowing the future of our country to sleep in vans, wear dirty clothes, go to bed hungry, lie awake at night in fear.  One little difference, like the one you can make, or you can make, or you can make - get involved.  Reach out - reach back - reach up. For goodness sake let us open our eyes.  Let us open our hearts.  I have had the privilege of teaching children whose life circumstance left them homeless.  More often than not, once they had some food, some clean clothes, and a nap - they worked their butts off - and their parents showed up for meetings and back to school nights.  Not all, there is no everyone or no one - We live in a world with a lot of gray, what color are you? What color light do you shine for others to see? Are you a harbor or a rocky cliff? When will the change we promised ever come to fruition? When will we accept the reality of our society? I want more.  I need to do more.  We all need to do more.  Then we should find the bureaucrats in Conn. and give them a timeout.  They will not earn their star for the day.  Let them live in a van.  I wonder where their children go to school?