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The lessons from the march on Jena, La. last week are rippling across the country, and teachers in many subject areas will find rich material for classroom discussion and research. Have students conduct Web searches ("Jena" or "Jena 6"), or use information from some of these reports and commentary. A sampling of next-day reporting summaries of the event can be found in The Washington Post, the New Orleans Times-Picayune, and the youth-oriented Wiretap. The Los Angeles Times considered the effect of Jena on presidential candidates. One of the best commentaries on Jena, linking what happened there to more pervasive interaction of race and poverty across the country, comes from the UK's Guardian Unlimited. An especially pertinent column in The Washington Post draws special attention to school diversity issues raised by the situation in Jena that led to the nooses, fights, arrests, litigation, and marches.
The Southern Poverty Law Center has been helping with legal defense in the Jena case for some time. And Teaching Tolerance offers an annual program to actively counteract the kind of social segregation that fueled some of the racial divisions at Jena High School (although root causes go deep into the community). Our Mix It Up at Lunch Day, this year on Nov. 13, provides the perfect occasion for students not only to mingle with others, but to learn how to take charge of inclusive activities themselves.
Meanwhile, south of Jena in post-Katrina New Orleans, public schools are barely hanging on. A report to be released this week from the Southern Education Foundation details the crisis, from the schools to the condition of the children who are trying to get an education there. One activity for children that seems to have therapeutic results comes from art.
The State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) could easily become a
casualty of a threatened veto by President Bush this week, or automatic
expiration Sept. 30. If so, what limited health care is available to lower
income families would be stripped away as collateral damage from larger
political fights about the nature of health care reform in America. The
impact on kids, schools, and communities could be devastating. The Campaign for Children’s Health Care
provides a way for you to take action now.
It's a shame to have to mention this one, but given the schools-to-prison pipeline, questions of religious diversity (see the current issue of Teaching Tolerance) extend, literally, into America's cell structure. So does paranoia about what young people (the seemingly inexhaustible fodder of the prison population) can read, even on spiritual matters.
UPDATE: Under considerable pressure from a variety of groups, the federal Bureau of Prisons has reversed its policy of banning religious books for inmates.
If you don't know about Jonathan Kozol's
new website and network, Education Action!, geared towards education reform and teacher retention efforts, now you do. We expect great things.
We expect considerably less from the CBS "reality" show "Kid Nation," which has been described as a "Lord of the Rings" in New Mexico. Whatever you think of the show, debuting last week, you should also know that your school might be a recruiting ground.
Finally, as every teacher, parent and student knows or will learn, one of the most competitive of all athletic activities in schools (and most injury-prone) is also one of the most prone to cultural hegemony, lack of diversity, and just plain favoritism. So a big cheer for inclusive cheerleading.
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