Why I Signed the Petition
by Derek Morales, Yale University Graduate

Once upon a time there were two boys, one older than the other.  The older boy was named Derek, the younger, Charlie, but both shared the same last name.  The elder grew up in a suburb of New Jersey schooled in what was then a distinguished Blue Ribbon School District.  The younger grew up in part of an inner city that sat in the shadows of a university.  Derek enjoyed all of the activities that Charlie did: soccer, basketball, video games to name a few.  Both were intelligent, both shared the same culture, but only one went to Yale.

I had the privilege of meeting Charlie through America Counts, a mentoring program designed to assist middle school students with math.  Instantly, we bonded, after all, his last name was my own (he used to say we were brothers).  One day while sitting in on one of the classes taught by a great teacher and friend of mine in the school, I learned something astonishing that I will never forget: the truth about “No Child Left Behind.” 

This teacher explained that with this new concept came the decree that all text books and teaching aides had to be research based.  As an ideal this was fine, but research necessitates a test or control group, and for most public schools in impoverished areas of inner cities in America, they represent the best control group that money can buy.  The reason I say “that money can buy” is because that is exactly what they did, text book researchers explained to these teachers that for participation in this program their schools would gain funding, and while participation was not required, the lack thereof of just one teacher would negate the money the participation would generate.  Having graduated Yale and looking back upon what service I have done, this is the resounding skepticism that flavors the words I type.

A new dichotomy is emerging today in America between those that have the resources to adapt and those that do not.  The children left behind are those in classrooms without good teachers, courses without textbooks, and public schools without funding.  Lacking resources, public education is producing generations of students without the ability to compete in the scholastic halls of higher education. And their competitors, those with better education; better teachers; better opportunity, bring to the equation two sides that reflect the dichotomous divides that have posthumously replaced one another in American history: White/Black, Rich/Poor, Spanish/English. 

Our Education is a non-profit organization predicated upon the thought that all children deserve a chance, an opportunity to realize their dreams through their own scholastic work.  After all, education has always been the driving force to long-term success in the pursuit of the American dream, and without it, one is left behind in an ever-advancing, quickly globalizing world economy.  Our Education believes that the kinds of schools we need will only be brought about when students themselves take the lead in demanding them throughout the country, forcing politicians to make children and their schools a priority.  With this in mind, Our Education is fighting to guarantee all of America’s children access to educational opportunity through a national student petition campaign in support of quality public education as an American right.

Why did I sign Our Education’s “A Million Voices, One Right” petition? 

• The average 12th grade Latino and African-American student performs at the mathematic and reading level of an 8th grade Asian-American or Caucasian student.  (The Education Trust)
• Two Thirds of students in America cannot read at their grade-level proficiency. (2003 NAEP Results)
• American High Schools ranked 24th out of 29 developed countries in mathematics and problem solving.  (2003 PISA Results)

 I signed the petition because every Ivy League Institution in America boasts of diversity, a diversity that amounts to a satisfaction in attaining an undergraduate body with 50% of their students from private schools and 50% from public schools.  The problem is that public school students outnumber private school students roughly 9 to 1.  The actual numbers amount to 48,144,000 public school students to 6,256,000 private.  (CAPE Statistics)  If all children were born with the same educational opportunity, the number of students at this nation’s top institutions of higher education might be more representative of the inhabitants of the classrooms of inner city, rural, and suburban neighborhoods in this country.  

Granted, improving the quality of education in America, let alone equalizing that quality, is a mission that is close to impossible; the thought of equal education for every child in America sadly seems like a pipe dream.  But let us not forget that 40 years ago, civil rights activists faced a similar situation.  African Americans and Latinos, banned from restaurants; schools; and other venues, were discriminated against because they did not look like the majority of Americans.  No one knew how or even if desegregation would take place in schools and other public forums, or if the Civil Rights Act would succeed in allowing students of all colors the same seat in a classroom.  But congressmen and presidents, activists and students alike all clung to a dream that such an inequality as that based on the color of one’s skin had no place in society, and decades later people of all creeds share one America.  Is it thus so impossible to think that the mission of Our Education has hope?

It is the promise that all students regardless of the color of one’s skin or the weight of one’s purse should have the ability to think, build, and act upon their dreams that Our Education represents.  The decisions we make today will affect the lives of American children, the lives of our children.  And, somewhere years from now looking back in our twilight years on the choices we made, we will answer for the present circumstances we helped to shape.  I signed the petition for Our Education because when that day comes I want to be able to say I was not complacent in my youth, I want to say I acted for a better future.

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