One would think to consider the desire for knowledge
The struggle for freedom
For prosperity
For opportunity
For the same damn chance as every other American—I mean person—in this world.
But not so.
One would hope that the beaming foreign faces would sway
—or at least affect—
Even the most ignorant at heart.
But not so, for these consider those
Bright and beaming faces
To be the ignorant ones: 'can't even speak English'
And
'They don't belong here, so send 'em back to their own country'
But not so, for they are here for awhile.
To get an "education"
No child (from this country, and by that I mean the most able) Will Be Left Behind, you know
And all that crap.
So what happens to the child left behind
/to staple newsletters
/to run hall passes
/to put away transparencies
.to stop learning?
What child is this that we say we care about while most other children are left illiterate through bureaucracies that can't get past the red tape to let them learn?
Is it the golden child?
Is it the Future of America?
How is possible for a white, middle class child to be the poster child for the next era?
Is it fair?
To the white kid or the black kid?
Wait, aren't we forgetting someone?
What happened to the kid who came from Russia to West Sac?
Who came from India to California?
Who gave up the passing grades they had,
Caring school,
Accepting peers
In exchange for a system that fails them, that judges them, that suspects them, that cheats them.
Yeah, um, about that…
They got left behind.
Forgotten in the classroom, stapling newsletters "because they do it faster."
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