Schools

ON DEMOGRAPHICS:
"You may teach a class that is all male or all female. You may teach a class that is all white or all black or all Chicano. But you will probably never teach a class that is all straight."
-- Joseph A. Devito

ON ETHICS:
"We are the first country in the world to institute public education in order to give every kid a chance. As a teacher, I have a moral obligation to help every kid do well. I can't neglect certain kids simply because I don't like them."
-- Kevin Jennings, former classroom teacher and currently Executive Director of the Gay Lesbian Straight Education Network (GLSEN)

"Every child's sense of himself is terrifyingly fragile. He is at the mercy of his elders, and when he finds himself totally at the mercy of his peers,who know as little about themselves as he, it is because his elders have abandoned him."
-- James Baldwin, Dark Days

ON TESTING:
"Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted."
-- Albert Einstein

LAWS & POLICIES DO MATTER:
"Taunts and anti-gay violence are driving students out of school and pushing vulnerable youth to terrible desperation. This bullying is not only dangerous - it is illegal when it is ignored by the school officials entrusted with the safety of all students."
-- Attorney Jon W. Davidson of Lambda Legal

"It may be true that the law cannot make a man love me, but it can keep him from lynching me, and I think that's pretty important."
-- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

POLICIES ALONE AREN'T ENOUGH:
"No uniform, no metal detector, no security guard, no dress code, can do what students can do to impact a school's climate to foster learning. All the policies and regulations can be in their rightful place(s), but to truly personalize a school we have to reach students before we can teach students."
-- Dave Maloney, assistant principal at Branford (CT) High School