We honor you, Dr. King.
On Monday we will celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who was born on January 15, 1929 and was assassinated on April 4, 1968. In less than forty years on this earth, he inspired millions and changed the course of history.
Dr. King had some important things to say about education:
“The richest nation on Earth has never allocated enough resources to build sufficient schools, to compensate adequately its teachers, and to surround them with the prestige our work justifies. We squander funds on highways, on the frenetic pursuit of recreation, on the overabundance of overkill armament, but we pauperize education.”
Case in point: yesterday’s Basic Education Funding Commission Report: “Pennsylvania needs to spend $5.4B to close gap between rich and poor schools”
“Education must enable one to sift and weigh evidence, to discern the true from the false, the real from the unreal, and the facts from the fiction. The function of education, therefore, is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. But education which stops with efficiency may prove the greatest menace to society. The most dangerous criminal may be the man gifted with reason, but with no morals.”
“We must remember that intelligence is not enough. Intelligence plus character — that is the goal of true education.”
We propose two unique service projects for MLK Day 2024:
1) Did you know across 217 public schools and 124,111 students in the Philadelphia School District, there are only 4 certified school librarians?
In stark contrast, and by good fortune only, we here in CB have well-resourced school libraries staffed with librarians in each of our 23 schools serving close to 18,000 students. No matter our race, background, or zip code, our neighborhood public school libraries should be fully operational with professional librarians and an abundance of good books that spark the imagination and reflect the experiences of each and every child.
By joining together to donate a few books to Treehouse Books we can improve access to literature and cultivate a lifelong love of reading.
Putting good books into children’s hands could not be easier: simply select the books you’d like to donate from the wish lists of two Black owned bookstores in Philadelphia and the books will go directly to Treehouse for distribution:
> Purchase books from Uncle Bobbie’s
> Purchase books from Harriett’s Bookshop
Treehouse Books is an organization that provides free books and literacy programs to Philadelphia school children. Their vision is “to make sure every child in Philadelphia has access to books, and every opportunity to fulfill their dreams and explore their passion.”
2) What about an expression of your appreciation for someone in CB who has made a difference in our schools this year?
Anyone who has received a surprise letter expressing respect, admiration, or support can tell you: these messages mean a lot! Our teachers, support staff, custodians and bus drivers and cafeteria staff, guidance counselors, school psychologists, librarians, administrators, school nurses… all of them: they work hard on behalf of our community’s children every school day and many of the not-school-days, too. We encourage all our readers to pick up a pen and write a note to someone who has improved the life of a child.
Just as we honor Dr. King, a towering hero, we can also turn to the everyday heroes who protect, feed, transport, educate, challenge, inspire, and care for our children.
And also in the spirit of education comprising intelligence and character, we invite you to think about how we can learn more about the struggle for true equality in our nation. Take a look at this list of resources you can use to create an anti-racist reading list of your own:
What if, in the spirit of Dr. King’s great sacrifice for our nation and its enduring yet challenged commitment to equity and justice, we all read some excellent books about how we can think about race and how we can help create a just society?
Happy birthday, Dr. King. Your legacy lives on in America.