Today, January 15, is the date of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birth. Had he lived, he would have celebrated his 84th birthday.
This year, we will mark the fiftieth anniversary of Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech, which was delivered in August, 1963 to more than 200,000 civil rights supporters from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. The speech is considered one of the most powerful of the 20th Century and marked a defining moment in the civil rights movement.
Dr. King’s life, his message, and the changes for which he fought so hard for still challenge us today. But fifty years after Dr. King blazed the trail, we still haven’t reached our destination.
In his “Future of Integration” speech in 1964 at Oberlin College, Dr. King told students “the time is always right to do what’s right.” In this new year, as we face significant decisions by our leadership both locally, on the school board, and, at the state level, in the legislature, no time is more important than now to put aside any political or philosophical differences and simply do what’s right for our students, the future of AISD and our state.
Today, at the annual celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King's birthday, our district's central office staff had the pleasure of hearing original essays on the topic "Do the Right Thing," written and read by three talented AISD students.
In seeking equal opportunities for African Americans, Martin Luther King, Jr., ignited movements for equal treatment among women, Hispanics, people with disabilities, and other groups. His calls for equal treatment under the law changed and improved the lives of millions of Americans, not just African Americans. He showed us how to seek change by working within the system, while still challenging injustice.
In our work in public education, we have a unique opportunity and a particular responsibility for making progress towards realizing Dr. King’s dream of equal access and opportunity for all Americans. Our job is to ensure every student in AISD receives a quality education, regardless of skin color or zip code.
Over the past several years, we have made some progress in recognizing inequalities in AISD. But, as Dr. King knew better than anyone, the process of change can be frustrating and slow. We must not listen to those who say that these changes can wait until next year, or the year after that. Because, every year we wait to make a decision, more students will not graduate, and we will have failed to do our job of preparing all students to take advantage of the opportunities before them.
To our school community, especially our staff, I want to thank you for standing with me in the faith and the belief that we can and will do the right thing to eliminate achievement gaps for all children, so that every single student leaves this district with a diploma in hand and a promising future. We see signs that we are doing the right thing.
This year, we will mark the fiftieth anniversary of Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech, which was delivered in August, 1963 to more than 200,000 civil rights supporters from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. The speech is considered one of the most powerful of the 20th Century and marked a defining moment in the civil rights movement.
Dr. King’s life, his message, and the changes for which he fought so hard for still challenge us today. But fifty years after Dr. King blazed the trail, we still haven’t reached our destination.
In his “Future of Integration” speech in 1964 at Oberlin College, Dr. King told students “the time is always right to do what’s right.” In this new year, as we face significant decisions by our leadership both locally, on the school board, and, at the state level, in the legislature, no time is more important than now to put aside any political or philosophical differences and simply do what’s right for our students, the future of AISD and our state.
Today, at the annual celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King's birthday, our district's central office staff had the pleasure of hearing original essays on the topic "Do the Right Thing," written and read by three talented AISD students.
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| Kealing Middle School 8th Grader Keyanna Mack |
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| Travis High School senior Cantrell Gains |
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| Austin High School senior Devin Domino. |
In our work in public education, we have a unique opportunity and a particular responsibility for making progress towards realizing Dr. King’s dream of equal access and opportunity for all Americans. Our job is to ensure every student in AISD receives a quality education, regardless of skin color or zip code.
Over the past several years, we have made some progress in recognizing inequalities in AISD. But, as Dr. King knew better than anyone, the process of change can be frustrating and slow. We must not listen to those who say that these changes can wait until next year, or the year after that. Because, every year we wait to make a decision, more students will not graduate, and we will have failed to do our job of preparing all students to take advantage of the opportunities before them.
To our school community, especially our staff, I want to thank you for standing with me in the faith and the belief that we can and will do the right thing to eliminate achievement gaps for all children, so that every single student leaves this district with a diploma in hand and a promising future. We see signs that we are doing the right thing.
- When the number of Hispanic students going on postsecondary education after they graduate increases seven percentage pointsin one year, we are doing the right thing.
- When achievement on the STAAR for African-American and Hispanic students increases several percentage points in every subject area, as it did last year, we are doing the right thing.
- When discretionary removals from the classroom, which disproportionately affect African American and Special Education students, decrease by 34 percent in one year, we are doing the right thing.
- When graduation rates among English Language Learners and Economically Disadvantaged students increase by more than 4 percentage points in one year, we are doing the right thing.
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| The Dobie Middle School Choir, directed by Julie Arend, impressed me so much with their beautiful voices. |
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| Cantrell Gains, Devin Domino, and Keyanna Mack (l-r). |
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| AISD Trustees Vince Torres, Anne Teich, Cheryl Bradley, Amber Elenz and Jayme Mathias congratulated the essayists. |