"White People Feel Targeted by the Ferguson Protests—Welcome to Our World"

Time Magazine:

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: White People Feel Targeted by the Ferguson Protests—Welcome to Our World

We read this article in our Leadership Team meeting at school.  It sparked a lot of conversation about what it means for us as educators and as members of the leadership team supporting/representing/leading other educators at a school with a student population that is predominantly students of color.  What are our responsibilities toward our students?  How do we create the type of school where all students are respected? How do we create the type of school where we are actively fighting against the oppression of black male students (in particular) and other students of color?  Where do our conversations and efforts toward acknowledging and celebrating our diverse staff and students (including a successful Day of Pride that was organized recently) fit into all this?  What actions can we take in a practical way to fight injustices and inequities in the space that we occupy... while continuing to provide quality education? ... while also recognizing that fighting/acknowledging/identifying injustices and inequities with/for students should be a part of the "quality" education that they receive from us?  

Many thoughts.  Some answers.  A lot of hard work.

"For Officer Liu’s Funeral, Blending Police Traditions With Chinese Customs"

NYTIMES: 
For Officer Liu’s Funeral, Blending Police Traditions With Chinese Customs

by Vivian Yee and Jeffrey E. Singer

I just thought that this was really interesting. I heard that there were tons of policemen who showed up in New York from out of state to show support/respect for Officer Ramos and I'm sure that they want to show respect to Officer Liu as well. On the other hand, apparently "[s]everal family friends [of Officer Liu] have said they plan to attend only the wake on Saturday, intimidated by what is sure to be a large showing by the Police Department on Sunday."  If the expression of solidarity and respect by the policement (most of whom didn't know Officer Liu) is serving to suppress the expressions of grief and respect by the family member and friends who did know him, I feel like something is falling through the cracks.

While Officer Ramos’s wife appeared “courageous and dignified in the face of such great loss,” containing her emotions during her husband’s funeral on Saturday, Mr. Mo said, “if you look at a typical Chinese funeral, that is not the way to behave. Should we bend the tradition in order to make it more palatable for Westerners? Those are all issues.” 

...  

“We have to understand these customs and norms,” he said. “We can’t just say, ‘I’m Roman Catholic; this is the only way I know how to do this.’ ”

Charter Schools

AFT: Restoring Shaker's Vision for Charter Schools by Richard D. Kahlenberg and Halley Potter 

(The website version is here)

I didn't know that charter schools were originally suggested by an AFT president.  It was an interesting article about the history of charter schools and how the concept of "free market" and the "competition breeds excellence" mentality skewed his original concept for charter schools:

Under Shanker’s program, proposals for charter schools would be reviewed, evaluated, and approved or rejected by panels that included union representatives, school board members, and outsiders. Charters would be schools of choice—no student or teacher would be compelled to be part of one. And Shanker proposed that the schools be given independence for a five- to 10-year period to prove themselves, because new education ideas need time to be nurtured and cultivated. In order to make these new schools successful, he outlined two critical conditions: that the schools provide their teachers with strong voice, and that the schools educate kids from all walks of life.