True Student Rebels Won't Walk Out

Now I'm one of those parents who think LAUSD has made a lot of progress lately. And I was glad to see that missives the district cranked out after the one in my son's backpack became progressively less wimpy (I particularly like the one in which the Catholic archbishop, the mayor and the LAUSD superintendent tell students in big adult voices to stay in class today).

Still, here's how the cynic in me is tempted to interpret that letter my wife unearthed: "We \o7still\f7 don't care much whether your children learn biology and algebra or stomp around in circles shouting, so long as they keep their keisters on campus so we can collect that state dough."

Most educators don't have that attitude. Some do. That's why today's real rebels will be the ones who stay in class and politely but firmly tell their principals to give them better teachers, their teachers to give them more work, their parents to push them harder to complete it and privileged and presumably college-bound kids like my son to brace for some serious new competition.

I've just arrived on the education beat, so correct me if I'm wrong, but that strikes me as the most efficient way to change attitudes, change schools, change the world.

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