As I was reading, I was also thinking how can the government can afford to build new and fix old schools for all students. We studied a case last semester, Plyer v. Doe, where the Supreme Court ruled that even undocumented children of alien parents cannot be denied a public education.

It seems that the major cities that our author spoke of would be high in immigration. Therefore, the number of students continues to grow as more people come to this country in hopes of making of a better life. How can we help all of these students? This is still America right?

I think we can afford to build schools and provide places to learn for all students. We have to stop looking selfishly at tax money as "our money" as the politicians would have us believe and look at it as an investment in kids who would some day show promise.

To advocate means to stand up for those who have no means of doing that for themselves. That to me says that we should be child advocates; not just with our mouths or our degrees, but with our monies, time, our passion for change. As I was reading Kozol I saw the idea of apartheid or "separate but equal" within the halls of my district's schools. We work very hard to cover the fact that we don't actively recruit African-American families into our communities nor do we recruit "minorities" staff members to teach and work with our students, but we to state that we are working towards diversity.

I got into trouble with a parent last year when I taught the Black National Anthem during Black History Month. She was upset because other classrooms were not teaching it and wanted to know why I was the only one. I was teaching a poetry unit and we were looking at lyrics as forms of poetry...If we had look at a rock song or a country song, I wonder if there would have been a problem?

What are we advocating?

Americans should pay more attention to where our tax money is being spent.
If more people got more involved simply by voting and staying informed, people would know how the money was being spent. We are a country of immigrants. We will always be a country of immigrants. Now we are a country of illegal immigrants who want a piece of the American pie. Illegal immigrants want a better life on our expense. Illegal immigrants want rights, should they be given rights when they have violated the law?

There's money out there, but we as a society are lacking priorities.

An advocate speaks up to support someone. A devil's advocate questions what we believe to be true to the point that we have to prove what we believe. So,

If it's true that we believe that people will generally make good choices, then we must keep doing what we are doing for the best interests of every child even if it costs.

When I consider the time, money, care, concern, and interests we place on families who come and go, in and out, of our schools, states and countries, I can only then see that America is presenting a uniform invitation to all people. I love the Statue of Liberty and the "Send me your....." I belive it.

How must I prove to you that what we do will work..
Here's KB's I believe statements

I believe that the good we do will return good back to us.
I believe that when children come to our schools they will learn cooperation, goodwill, academics, etc.

I believe that as our world gets smaller, or flatter per Jenkins book, then our world will become a better place to live.

Good things do happen when we persist at what is good and "push our glass onto our neighbor's space." We're going to have to stand firm in the face of bias, prejudice, inequalities, inequities--the thrill of the challenge is what will make us good at our work. This is what will change all the schools to be better places for all children.

For these issues, I stand. I don't know what it will get me, but I gotta watch out for the little guy whoever and wherever he is. I have no doubt I'll be paying for it too! That's ok.

I think we see whose schools are fixed and whose stay the same. Immigration is an issue that isn't disappearing anytime soon, so you would think schools and government would together to make the best learning environment for all. I mean, they're all going to be tested, so they should be provided with the same resources.