Haves and Have-nots

Why would the girl from the well-to-do family from the more than well-to-do neighborhood teach in a less than well-to-do neighborhood when she’s all grown up?

Why does a quality, free public education for all Americans matter to ALL Americans? Why should the private school parent care about the local public school child? Why should the honor roll parent care about the delinquent, apathetic child?

If you are scared of socialism, the rest of this blog entry may rattle your bones slightly. But why shouldn’t Americans care about the welfare of other Americans? What happens to the whole of our society when large portions of the population are living in poverty? What happens to the whole of our nation when large portions of the population are living in areas that look as though they belong in the third world?

In the extreme, people die. Children understand the world that they are exposed to, that they come into contact with every day. When they see what others have and they don’t, they understand the injustice. What they don’t often understand is why they have grown up in that world. They don’t understand the history that has shaped that world. They don’t know of the institutionalized racism, sexism and classism that found its way into our nation since its birth. Students die when they cannot handle this injustice. Students blame each other and those around them when they cannot understand this injustice. A student died in Chicago.

That death was not the fault of Arnie Duncan (who is in himself another topic for another blog entry). The death was not the fault of the Chicago Unified School system. The death was the fault of THE SYSTEM. The system of oppression. The system which creates extremes in the haves and have-nots. The system in which those have-nots grow up with few to no positive role models. The system in which those would-be role models do not want to return to their home town once getting a taste of the rest of the world. This is the world in which the students who are the have-nots grow up in. And it is this world that does nothing positive for America. In the end, this world requests Medi-Cal, welfare, free and reduced school lunches. And for those that do not believe in or support more government, more bureaucracy, higher taxes, can’t stand socialist comments like the ones I may have just made, it is for you that taking an interest in the have-nots should be important. (I am clearly assuming that those who do not support more government oversight do not support Medi-Cal, welfare, etc.)

So why do I work at a have-not school? Because I believe in a better America. Yes that sounds corny, but it’s true. This country gave hope and life to my family, and I want that hope to carry on to my students. I want them to wake up without a cloud of despair over their heads; they did not request to be born into their have-not lives, who would? They deserve to have a fair shot at the American dream. And so I go to work every day with love and hope, and it is my goal to pass this along to my students so that one day, they too can return this love and hope to those that need it.