LUNCH LINES Take the Stigma of Free and Reduced Lunch Off the Menu
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The New Jim Crow Teachers Who Bully NEW Curriculum TT talks with Michelle Alexander Step in, speak up Teach for equity with Perspectives TTEEAACCHIHINNGG ISSUE 48 | FALL 2014 TTOOLELERRAANNCECETOLERANCE.ORG LUNCH LINES Take the stigma of free and reduced lunch off the menu. CELEBRATE THE 50th A NEW FILM KIT AND TEACHER’S GUIDE FROM TEACHING TOLERANCE ANNIVERSARY One Person, ONE VOTE Discover the Role Educators and Students Played in Securing the Right to Vote II TEACHING TOLERANCE A NEW FILM KIT AND TEACHER’S GUIDE FROM TEACHING TOLERANCE BRING SOCIAL JUSTICE TO YOUR CLASSROOM. TRY OUR OTHER FILM KITS ONE SURVIVOR REMEMBERS Gerda Weissmann Klein’s account of surviving the Holocaust encourages thoughtful classroom discussion about a diffi- cult-to-teach topic. Grades 6-12 streaming online VIVA LA CAUSA An introduction to lessons about struggles for workers’ rights—both past and present. Grades 6-12 A TIME FOR JUSTICE Follow the civil rights movement from Emmett Till to the passing of the Voting On March 7, 1965, 600 civil rights activists left Selma, Alabama, Rights Act. on foot, marching for dignity and equality. Grades 6-12 • 18 days • 54 miles • 1 police attack • 1,900 National Guard troops • 2,000 U.S. Army soldiers MIGHTY TIMES THE CHILDREN’S MARCH and countless stories later … The heroic story of the … they arrived in Montgomery — and changed history. young people in Birmingham, Ala., who brought segregation to its knees. Grades 6-12 STARTING SMALL A tool for early-grades edu- cators creating classrooms in which peace, equity and justice are guiding themes. The Selma-to-Montgomery legacy Professional Development includes the sacrifices of young people whose history is seldom told. Share their stories with your students. BULLIED A STUDENT, A SCHOOL AND A CASE THAT MADE HISTORY One student’s ordeal at You can pre-order One Person, One Vote at the hands of anti-gay bullies culminates in a tolerance.org/one-person-one-vote. message of hope. Grades 6-12 The film kit and teacher’s guide will be available this winter. Observe the 50th anniversary of the Selma-to-Montgomery marches with your students! Recommended for grades six and up. FREE TO EDUCATORS All kits include film and teacher’s guide. ORDER ONLINE! tolerance.org/material/orders TEACHING TOLERANCE ISSUE 48 | FALL 2014 DEPARTMENTS 5 Perspectives 7 Letters to the Editor 9 Ask Teaching Tolerance 11 Why I Teach Lauren Allgood may have only one year with her students, but it’s enough time to let them know 20 30 they matter. 13 Down the Hall Manuel J. Fernandez makes cultural responsiveness a “principal” priority. 15 Ed Café 59 Staff Picks 62 Story Corner Gloria and Rosa use their love of music to stand up against inequity—together. 64 One World 48 51 on the cover Lunch should be a time for kids to unwind and recharge—not to feel stigmatized for their socioeconomic status. ILLUSTRATION BY MARK SMITH ALL ARTICLES ARE AVAILABLE FOR EDUCATIONAL USE AT TOLERANCE.ORG/MAGAZINE/ARCHIVES. The March Continues: Five Essential Practices for Teaching the Civil Rights Movement Tear out and keep this useful guide for planning civil rights instruction! FEATURES 20 Check It Out! Want help boosting cultural responsiveness at your school? Ask your librarian! 3-2-1-LAUNCH! 23 Lunch Lines Your guide to Teaching Tolerance’s FREE 40 44 Take the stigma out of free and 30 K-12 anti-bias curriculum. reduced lunch. BYOD? 26 Excerpt: Case Studies on Diversity Relying on personal devices at school 44 raises serious equity questions. and Social Justice Education Paul Gorski and Seema Pothini offer steps for 30 A Conversation with approaching your toughest teaching cases. Michelle Alexander Meet the Family The author of The New Jim Crow 48 Implement a successful home-visit program. talks with TT. Our experts tell you how. 404 Error: Teacher Not Found 34 Abuse of Power Online education offers options for some 51 Most bullying prevention is aimed at students—and shortchanges others. students. What happens when adults are 38 The Classroom Closet the aggressors? What if you couldn’t be you at work? 54 And the Winners Are … Meet the recipients of the 2014 Teaching Tolerance Award for Excellence in Teaching. 51 56 56 “We Spoke the Right Things” This 6-year-old taught her community a valuable lesson about fairness. ED CAFÉ Want to build stronger relationships with students, colleagues and communities? Stop by Ed Café and sample innovative practices! (see page 15) FALL 2014 3 HOW WILL YOUR STUDENTS LEARN ABOUT DIRECTOR Maureen B. Costello DESIGN DIRECTOR Russell Estes THE CIVIL RIGHTS MANAGING EDITORS Alice Pettway, Adrienne van der Valk WRITERS/ASSOCIATE EDITORS Monita K. Bell, Maya Lindberg MOVEMENT? NEW MEDIA CONTENT MANAGER Annah Kelley SENIOR MANAGER FOR TEACHING & LEARNING Sara Wicht TEACHING AND LEARNING SPECIALISTS Emily Chiariello, June Cara Christian PROGRAM ASSOCIATE Michele Lee ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT Bridget Strength FELLOW Steffany Moyer INTERNS Margaret Sasser, Joanna Williams DESIGN SENIOR DESIGNER Valerie Downes DESIGNERS Michelle Leland, Sunny Paulk, Scott Phillips, Kristina Turner DESIGN ASSISTANT Shannon Anderson PRODUCTION ACCOUNTING OPERATIONS MANAGER Regina Jackson PURCHASING PRODUCTION COORDINATOR Kimberly Weaver CONTRIBUTORS IN PERSON Lauren Allgood, Todd Bigelow, Dan Chung, Dave Constantin, Kelly Davidson, Andrew Degraff, Byron Eggenschwiler, Mike Ellis, Jesse Etsler, Blanca Gómez, Tom Griscom, Paul C. Gorski, The Civil Rights Memorial Center in Joe Hansen, Sarah Hanson, Robert Hardin, Warren Hynes, Susan Estelle Kwas, Cynthia Levinson, Montgomery, Mary Kate McDevitt, Alan McEvoy, Hellen Musselwhite, Pietari Posti, Seema G. Pothini, Sean Price, Ala., honors Jon Reinfurt, Alissa Sklar, Mark Smith, Skip Sterling, Daniel Zender those who ADVISORY BOARD MEMBERS lost their lives Lhisa Almashy, Silvestre Arcos, Anna Baldwin, Trevor Scott Barton, Jennifer Butler, Vanessa D’Egidio, for equality. Darnell Fine, Sonia Galaviz, James Hiller, Amber Strong Makaiau, Janice McRae, Tracy Oliver-Gary, Student group Demea Richards-Scott, Daniel Ian Rubin, Robert Sautter, Laurence Tan, Jennifer Trujillo, Katy Wagner tours are free! SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER splcenter.org/civil-rights-memorial CO-FOUNDERS Morris Dees, Joseph J. Levin Jr. PRESIDENT & CEO J. Richard Cohen CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER Lisa A. Sahulka FILM OUTREACH DIRECTOR Lecia Brooks A Time for CHIEF COMMUNICATIONS Justice and & DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR Wendy Via The Children's SPLC BOARD OF DIRECTORS March bring the Alan B. Howard, Chair Henry Solano, Vice Chair movement to life Bryan Fair Marsha Levick for students. Will Little James McElroy tolerance.org/teaching-kits Lida Orzeck Elden Rosenthal James Rucker Ellen Sudow Julian Bond, Emeritus ACTIVITIES Patricia Clark, Emeritus The Civil Rights Activity Book uses Joseph J. Levin, Jr., Emeritus GRADES 4-6 puzzles, songs and EDITORIAL OFFICE + CIVIL RIGHTS ENTHUSIASTS OF ALL AGES photos to teach 400 Washington Avenue, Montgomery, AL 36104 children about EMAIL [email protected] SUBSCRIPTIONS tolerance.org/subscribe martyrs and events Teaching Tolerance is mailed twice and released for the iPad three times a year at no charge to educators. of the civil rights It is published by the Southern Poverty Law Center, a nonprofit legal and education organization. movement. For permission to reprint articles, email us at [email protected]. splcenter.org tolerance.org/ ISSN 1066-2847 © 2014 SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER SE RECY A C E L civil-rights-activity-book E L P T E H L I S B A Printed with inks containing 27.3% renewable resources M L A C G Y A C ZI RE NE IS 100% Perspectives “The opposite of courage isn’t cowardice; it is conformity.” —Jim Hightower We’re working on a new film at suppression, these inequities are more diffuse, harder to see, easier to Teaching Tolerance, one that rationalize as logical. In our Summer tells the story of the fight to win 2014 issue, we wrote about how we’ve all come to accept private fundrais- the vote for African Americans ing as a way of life with the result that throughout the nation, but espe- disadvantaged schools are left even farther behind economically. In this cially in places like Alabama issue, we shine the spotlight on sev- and Mississippi. eral practices that shortchange the most vulnerable students: poorly-im- Ground zero was Selma, Alabama, “the most vulnerable class of Negro plemented BYOD programs, inequita- where in early 1965, organizers professionals, all of whom owed their ble school lunch policies, and the push appointed block captains, held mass jobs to white politicians,” demon- for failing students to recover credits meetings and led marchers—including strated as a group. It’s easier to under- online rather than in a classroom. students—to the courthouse to demon- stand why they might refuse to march. Unlike the policies that prevented strate their desire to register to vote. These teachers could have ratio- black teachers from registering to vote Three weeks after the first meet- nalized that their best service was to in 1965, the inequities we address in ing, nearly every teacher at the all- continue to teach, to hope for a better this issue are not explicitly based on black Clark Elementary School left future for their students, to keep their a white-supremacist worldview. But the building and walked in a proces- heads down and to continue to put they grew out of this system, a system sion to the county courthouse. Three food on their families’ tables. At some that refused to see all people as equal. times they mounted the courthouse point, though, they could no longer We rarely intend to hurt our students steps, and each time they were pushed remain silent. and families of color, or those living in back down by the sheriff and his I hear from many teachers, coun- poverty.