Education Week - July 20, 2016 - 29

Strong regulations are necessary to
ensure Title I dollars play their essential
part in fulfilling our nation's
commitment to the next generation."

The Wisdom of an 8th Grader

By Saul Drevitch

at our country and see a history of evil actions
taken to steal a continent, while using slaves
to build an economy. They reach the far-tooeasy conclusion that we are an evil nation.
There are other Americans who reach the
equally simple conclusion that our past is a
series of justifiable steps on the path to creating a great nation.
Both perspectives are equally flawed. These
points of view both take our nation's complicated history and reduce it to oversimplified
ideas. My 8th graders understand that there
is no wisdom in trying to find simple answers
to the complicated issues surrounding an
equally complicated nation. Our nation's leaders, and those who desperately desire to be
our leaders, would do well to understand this.
My 8th graders also understand that the
key to our complex democracy is the right to
free speech guaranteed in the First Amendment. They understand that what makes free
speech complicated is the simple fact that it is

s an 8th grade American
history teacher, I should
be excited about the opportunity to use this fall's
election as a way to bring
history to life for my students. Instead, I find myself deeply frustrated at
having to explain to my students that somehow the nation that they live in has not fully
internalized the basic lessons of American democracy they are learning in class.
As our election draws ever closer, I see three
areas in which our body politic could benefit
from mastering the wisdom and civic maturity of my 8th graders. My students understand just how prophetic George Washington
was when he warned against the dangers of
political parties; they appreciate that American democracy is complicated and does not
lend itself to simple answers; and they recognize that our democracy cannot function without strict protection of the freedom of speech.
As he was completing his second term,
Washington issued a farewell address full of
sage advice to the young nation. Some of his
strongest words were reserved for a pointed
warning of the "baneful effects" of political
parties.
My 8th graders can explain the connection
between the failure to heed Washington's advice and the political rancor that would
eventually lead to a civil war. Some
of them can also connect Washington's advice to the current
lack of civility between our
two major political pargranted to all.
ties. While it is highly
Many in politics and
unlikely that we are
academia are trying
heading toward another civil war, a case
to adapt the freedom
can be made that the
of speech to somehow
level of discord beinclude a freedom
tween the parties may
from offense. If one
be the 21st-century
American's freedom of
equivalent.
speech can be limited
George Washington
because another Amerwas far too wise to beican feels offended by
lieve that the country
his words, then freedom
of speech no longer exists.
could exist for a day, let
Our nation's language
alone 240 years, without
has certainly become riddled
disagreement. In fact, he
was so committed to the power
with words and phrases that
of vigorous debate that he reguare intended to incite anger and
larly asked Thomas Jefferson and
Getty
violence. Such words should not be
Alexander Hamilton to sit in a room together tolerated. However, we cannot allow this small
and argue over national policies until they segment of speech to expand and challenge the
had both depleted their vast vocabularies. The foundation of democracy. The more I learn, the
difference between then and now is that they more I understand that the greatest benefit
were both equally focusing on the needs of the of democracy is not that we get to collectively
country rather than those of a political party.
choose our leaders, it is the fact that every day
My most recent class of 8th graders spent we get to decide which ideas carry the greata year learning just how complicated it is to est value. Great Americans have secured their
be a citizen of this great country. Our Consti- places in history by trusting their ideas and
tution has been a model for every democracy submitting those ideas to the thoughts and
that has emerged over the past two centuries. free-speech rights of others. My 8th graders
It is also a document that condoned slavery. In understand that this ongoing debate of ideas
1776, our founding Declaration presented the is what made our country great.
history-shattering idea that "all men are creWe live in the greatest nation on earth. That
ated equal." That same nation did not extend privilege comes at a price. Our nation faces
the right to vote to women until 1920. It did serious and complex issues that can only be
not extend the right to nonwhite male citizens addressed by those who recognize the comuntil 1870 or American Indians until 1924. It plexity of what it means to be an American.
did not fully enforce those rights until 1965, In the face of these monumental issues, I
with the Voting Rights Act.
hope we will embrace the challenges and join
My students also understand the challeng- my students in striving to gain the wisdom
ing reality that our country occupies land that needed to be Americans. n
was occupied by hundreds of native civilizations prior to the first Europeans' arrival on SAUL DREVITCH is an 8th grade American history
this continent. There are Americans who look teacher at Valley Christian School in Dublin, Calif.

Getty

to involve them in a lengthy and costly
legal process. This was an understandable reaction in light of a 2008 "Dear
Colleague" letter from the U.S. Department of Education's office for civil rights
advising school districts to use alternatives in student assignment that did not
include consideration of race, such as
those involving the use of socioeconomic
status.
But since this initially restrictive
reading of the Parents Involved decision, some school districts have employed promising race-conscious policies that can serve as examples for other
districts. The Jefferson County school
system in metropolitan Louisville, Ky.,
for instance, implemented a new raceconscious student-assignment policy
conforming to the guidelines articulated
by Kennedy's 2007 opinion. Their policy
has not only survived legal scrutiny,
but has also been effective in maintaining racially and economically diverse
schools, according to our research.
And another school board, in Lower
Merion, Pa., successfully defended a
challenge to its consideration of neighborhood racial composition in the redrawing of school boundaries. Even
more importantly, in December 2011,
the U.S. departments of Education
and Justice rescinded the 2008 "Dear
Colleague" letter and replaced it with
comprehensive guidance to districts
clarifying that, under Parents Involved,
race-conscious policies were, in fact,
allowed. The guidance gave general
examples of permissible and effective
race-conscious policies and the planning process districts should go through

to be able to successfully defend their
voluntary-integration policies.
As Kennedy noted in Fisher II, "It
remains an enduring challenge to our
nation's education system to reconcile
the pursuit of diversity with the constitutional promise of equal treatment
and dignity." By affirming the legality of
University of Texas at Austin's admission policy, the court empowered colleges
and universities to continue with their
efforts by considering race in their policies in a reflective manner. In so doing,
the court reminded K-12 educators and
administrators of the same imperative
in their efforts to attain diversity and
avoid the harms of racial isolation in our
society, where race continues to shape
educational access and success.
The Fisher v. University of Texas decision is a reminder of the discretion left
to school districts in Parents Involved
to employ a wide range of strategies
to address racial isolation and create
diverse schools, including through the
use of race-conscious policies tailored
to a district's goals and their particular
context. n
ERICA FRANKENBERG is an associate professor
of education and demography at the Pennsylvania
State University. LILIANA M. GARCES is an
associate professor of higher education and a
research associate in the Center for the Study
of Higher Education at Pennsylvania State
University. She most recently served as counsel
of record in a friend-of-the-court brief filed by
823 social scientists in Fisher II in support of
the University of Texas at Austin. They are the
co-directors of Pennsylvania State University's
Center for Education and Civil Rights.

My students understand just
how prophetic George
Washington was when he
warned against the dangers
of political parties."

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