Just Some Random Thoughts

At various times I stop to consider the work that our charity has been engaged in over the years.  Naturally, aside from reflecting on the good we've done I almost always think about what would be happening to the children if we weren't helping them.  It leaves me saddened to think that they could possibly, most likely, be further behind.

On another level, I am left appalled over the fact that much of America just doesn't realize the educational deprivation that hits literally millions of children and families in this country.

School reform, hah, what a joke!!!  If you want some real reform then the place to begin would be seeing to it that significant equal opportunity exists in education.   

How is there equal opportunity when you lack basic tools to perform in the classroom, have too little support at home, are exposed to violence in the community, and jobs are lacking?  The fact of the matter is that too many students don't have an equal chance at the American dream.

This isn't a partisan or political point of view; rather, a statement of fact.  The lack of an equal opportunity afflicts rural areas just as surely as it does the inner city.  No matter your race, you can be faced with the lack of real equal opportunity.

I don't want to hear people say 'they just need to pick themselves up by their bootstraps' because there are simply far too many young people who don't have bootstraps!!

Dick