Courage is a rare trait. Few have it or cultivate it. But those who possess it have the power to transform their relationships, their communities, their nation and even the world. Rosa Parks had it. She refused to give up her seat to a white passenger on a Montgomery, Ala., bus on Dec. 1, 1955, helping to start the civil rights movement. William Wilberforce had it. The British politician relentlessly pushed to end the slave trade in the face of immense opposition and succeeded with the passage of the Slave Trade Act of 1807, making abolition possible.
Theirs are acts to be celebrated and emulated, especially in our schools, where we daily fulfill our trust in the next generation ? or don?t.
But as the recent attacks on teachers in the Baltimore City and region?s schools attest, gang leaders are those held in high esteem in local schools. The stories outlined in The Examiner?s “Teachers Under Siege” series are ones of abandonment by school leadership and a mob mentality among students that transform schools from temples of learning to, as columnist Usha Nellore noted earlier this week, “coliseums.”
As we?ve mentioned before, to stop the violence, teachers must start to regularly report incidents. So must students. Last year in the region, school districts reported 1,500 suspensions for students attacking teachers. Many teachers say the figure is much higher, but in the name of avoiding being labeled “persistently dangerous,” which could lead to fewer tax dollars, principals ignore reports from teachers and even blame them for defending themselves, as in the case of Jolita Berry, the art teacher attacked by one of her students last month while onlookers cheered her assailant.
Without accurate violence reports, schools and parents cannotascertain if problems exist and begin to address them. But to transform the culture of fear to one of respect for authority and for learning, school districts must celebrate the courage of teachers like Berry who refuse to let thugs rule their classrooms.
Berry?s principal, Jean Ragin, should hold an all-school assembly at Reginald F. Lewis High School to honor her decision to defend herself and to file charges against her student attacker. Mayor Sheila Dixon and Baltimore City Public School System Chief Executive Officer Andres Alonso should be invited ? and attend. That would show students and principals throughout the system that maintaining safety and improving academic standards are their top priorities ? and give other teachers courage to come forward to report violent incidents.
That could create a chain effect. Rosa Parks helped to launch Martin Luther King Jr.?s career. Who knows if another King walks the hallways in our midst. But what?s clear is that if we do not practice courage, we cannot expect it in our students and communities.
