A reader shared the following story about a student in Tennessee, where StudentsFirst named an outspoken anti-gay legislator as its “Reformer of the Year.”
“11-year old takes on Michelle Rhee and Students First over endorsing “Don’t Say Gay” lawmaker endorsement. ”
“I am Marcel Neergaard, and I am 11 years old. This year I was homeschooled for sixth grade because of severe bullying. If I had gone back to public school, there is a great possibility that I would have taken my own life. That possibility would have grown if a certain bill introduced in my home state of Tennessee had passed into law. This bill was known as the “don’t say gay” bill. Though that bill never became a law, Oak Ridge’s own representative, John Ragan, introduced a new version of the Classroom Protection Act. It is the “don’t say gay” bill, just more homophobic. While he crafted this horrifying bill, he received an award. I wrote a petition to take a stand against this.”
Diane Ravitch's blog 
And a child will lead them
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I am glad that this student had an option to attending his local public school.
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Yeah, TE, that’s the main idea.
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Actually, given that the student said he would likely have committed suicide if he had to attend the public school, yes, I think it is the main idea.
Perhaps I put more weight on the students life than some.
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Yes, TE, you are the only one here with intelligence and compassion.
Pat yourself again. Someone has to.
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Not saying I am alone in feeling that at all. Having had a student that had to choose between being himself and having friends in public school, I have a great deal of sympathy for any student out of the social norm. No doubt you do as well.
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Well, his options ran out when the public school couldn’t or wouldn’t protect him from bullying. He was home-schooled last year.
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And a child will lead them!
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Linda: please excuse this posting if you feel it is unacceptable.
Remember that on the May 12 blog posting, “Remembering the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire of 1911,” one of the comments you posted in response to the remarks of a “clueless” [your adjective] commenter ended with:
“He is making me sick to my stomach. Everything is stats and numbers. Disgusting excuses and rationalizations……..is this even a human being? Signing off”
to which the owner of this blog replied on May 13
“Linda, You could try skipping his comments.”
You do what you think is best but in this situation the above is —IMHO—good advice.
Riffing a bit off of a famous Einstein quote, “Not everything that is read should be read, and not everything that should be read is read.” [Sorry about that, Albert!]
For my part, I look forward to reading many more comments by you on this blog.
🙂
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Great example of people reading the same info and emphasizing different things. I strongly disagree with the decision to give the award to the legislator, and am very sorry the youngster felt that the bullying was so bad she/he had to leave the school.
For those interested in a thoughtful description of what modern families (and possibly schools) are facing, a new TV show debuted last night, “The Fosters,” on ABC-Family channel. It’s about a family headed by two women that has several foster children. I really liked it and so did the LA TImes which said it had a “rainbow bright future.”
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/showtracker/la-et-st-the-fosters-20130603,0,2020157.story
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This young man has a very bright future. He is so articulate and willing to stand up for himself. It is a horrible fact that kids get bullied. Sadly, bullying is a serious problem everywhere. Schools are implementing anti-bullying programs, but is it enough?
I am a public school teacher. I pulled my son from public school earlier this year because he was being bullied, and the school is so large that it is difficult for the administration to handle these problems. I still believe in public school. I still believe that his former school is a good school. In fact, we have an exchange student with us this year who is having a positive experience at the same school. Public schools are a necessary part of our democracy, and necessary to maintain the middle class, in my opinion. They just can’t suit the needs of all. That does not mean that we should rush to charter schools in place of public schools. It just means that some kids need other options. Some kids, not all kids.
We will probably keep our son out of publice school next year, he will be a sophomore. However, I would like him to complete his final 2 years in public school.
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I think it’s not so much not being able to “suit the needs of all” as it is being able to fulfill EVERY need. Public schools cannot possibly succeed if they are expected to provide food, medical care, entertainment, babysitting….
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