Representative Colleen Lamonte of the State House 91st District was in our classroom first, second, and third hours on Friday. You all did well; so did she. Good exchange of ideas…good discussion. Challenging questions and thoughtful answers. I think it was a good day for democracy.
What’s going on in Denver is a good lesson in democracy.
This nation of ours is a mess… and its not getting any better. Corrupt public policy driven by ignorant and apathetic public interest swirling into dysfunction…unless of course you are have a lot of money: how many of you asked Representative Lamonte what do we do about the cost of higher education? How many of you are worried about that cost? How many of you will have children; and if you do, how on earth at this present rate of tuition increases, will they ever see the inside of a college classroom? This system is broken and it affects us all. You in particular. And nobody really knows what to do about it. Nobody knows how to fight back.
In fact many of you asked that question as well.
Well, high school kids in Denver are providing a lesson in fighting back. They are saying “NO” to being bricks in a wall. They are out of class. They are in the streets. They are bringing their parents with them. This is the first amendment, this is the fourteenth amendment in action.
So let’s look! And let’s learn.
- CBS Denver (9/23) – “Students Walk Out to Protest”
- Denver Post (9/25) – “Fourth day of protests”
- Fox News (9/25) – “What’s up with these punks?“
- Denver Post (9/26) – School Board response
- Huffington Post (9/27) – “AP Committee supports students”
- Westward Blog with links... – some links with Denver area HS students
