Phoenix Union High School District issued a statement of its commitment to “excellence and equality for all students . . . every single one of the young lives entrusted to us.” According to the press release, the statement was created “in response to the concerns of many parents, students and staff following the election cycle.” It’s a model for any school district wanting to affirm its commitment to the safety and welfare of all its students.
I’m including the entire statement, but first I want to spotlight the words at the end.
As a district, we make the following commitments:
We will continue to strengthen and implement processes that authentically raise up student voice.
We will work together – side by side and with all willing stakeholders – to address issues of race, of poverty, of discrimination, and of hate.
We will stand behind our Phoenix Union DACA recipients and DREAMers regardless of changes in law or policy. We will continue to work with community, city, state, and national leaders to create opportunities for our DACA and DREAMer students and their families so that they may thrive personally and academically. Our campuses will remain safe places for our students and their families.
Phoenix Union will continue to shun hate, judgment, violence, discrimination, and divisiveness. Instead, we will promote peace, acceptance, inclusivity, and compassion.
We choose love.
We choose our students and families.
Every single one of them.
The entire statement is below:
We, the Phoenix Union High School District, are proud to serve nearly 28,000 beautiful young men and women. Our students speak 74 different languages, are multi-lingual and multi-cultural, have limitless potential to thrive and contribute to the prosperity and well- being of others and this economy, and nearly all live at or below the federal poverty line. In serving such a diverse population of learners, we are committed to excellence and equity for all students. By all students, we mean all – every single one of the young lives entrusted to us.
Neither an election season nor any subsequent policy changes will ever cause us to waver in our commitment and our belief in each and every student that passes through a gate or over a threshold of a Phoenix Union campus or classroom.
In light of the current national story lines – the election, the movement for Black lives, the fierce divide on transgender rights, the political rhetoric surrounding immigration, the threats against religious communities, and the many other headlines that crowd social and traditional media – Phoenix Union wants to reiterate its commitment to our students and clarify our stance amidst the political uncertainty that currently affects our students and their families.
Our stance is simple. We choose to love and protect our students.
We will value all lives equally – black lives, brown lives, disabled lives, undocumented lives, GLBT lives, gifted lives, refugee lives, female lives, and every other category or subgroup or demographic that may be stigmatized. We will love and accept everyone. We will create a warm and welcoming learning environment for all students. We will build authentic relationships with our young adults. We will find ways to engage our students in meaningful academics, arts, athletics, and activities that develop in them the necessary skills and attributes to play an important role in this democracy. We will let our students know, each and every day, how much we love, support, and care about them, their families, and their future.
We do not believe that adults must be the only voice for our students. Our students have thoughts, opinions, passions, hopes, and dreams. It is our role to help foster their aspirations, to help provide space for them to talk through difficult issues, and to help them help us find solutions to our biggest issues. Our kids are not just the leaders of tomorrow – they are the leaders of today. We must use this valuable resource.
As a district, we make the following commitments:
We will continue to strengthen and implement processes that authentically raise up student voice.
We will work together – side by side and with all willing stakeholders – to address issues of race, of poverty, of discrimination, and of hate.
We will stand behind our Phoenix Union DACA recipients and DREAMers regardless of changes in law or policy. We will continue to work with community, city, state, and national leaders to create opportunities for our DACA and DREAMer students and their families so that they may thrive personally and academically. Our campuses will remain safe places for our students and their families.
Phoenix Union will continue to shun hate, judgment, violence, discrimination, and divisiveness. Instead, we will promote peace, acceptance, inclusivity, and compassion.
We choose love.
We choose our students and families.
Every single one of them.
This article appears in Dec 8-14, 2016.
Phoenix Union High School District should be commended for the implementation of the following:
Jesus Christ is an instrument of peace. Where there is hatred, He sows Love; where there is injury, He pardons; where there is doubt and despair, He brings hope; where there is ignorance and bigotry, He brings understanding and tolerance; where there is sadness, He brings joy.
Jesus Christ taught not so much to seek to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love; for it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is through Love that we are able to transform Ourselves and Human Society
(Modified after: “Prayer of Saint Francis”, Marquis de la Rouchetulon, L’Osservatore Romano, December 1916.
Hmmm. Too bad they don’t choose America, the Constitution of the United States, the rule of law, not man.
Liberal indoctrination of our children is destroying our country. Americans must take back our public education system. Liberals, ‘progressives’, are exploiting our children for their own political ideology and to stuff their pockets with taxpayer dollars.
“What Again” ..PLEASE…restrict your RACIST/BIGOTED comments to the Arizona Daily Independent (ADI); an Online “Newspaper” for Cowards/Racists/Bigots that Post their HATE under the cover of the Anonymity of a “Pen Name”.
So they intend to ignore our laws. Just till their funding is cut. Lawbreakers are trying to destroy America.
Thank you, David, for highlighting this constructive statement of a commitment to protect and nurture every student in a diverse student body. From what I’ve heard, Phoenix Union has constructively applied the desegregation funding allocated to it to support student needs and achieve student benefit. The ATTITUDE of leadership — evidenced In statements like this, in the quality of relationships developed with representatives of the courts and plaintiffs, and in how funds are actually applied in the schools or in central admin or in litigation — is so important in an educational community serving the underserved. A constructive attitude rigorously focused on student benefit has been sadly lacking in some other districts applying desegregation funds.
Dare I think that that may be part of your point here? No, that would probably be too much to ask.
Illegal is illegal. Case closed.
“Then Herod sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under.” Matthew 2:16
Legal, according to the law of the day.
There is legal, and then there is ethical. There is legal, and then there is humane.
How many cases throughout history have there been where the law has been out of alignment with what is just? It would be impossible to list them all.
What makes anyone think that American law is more immune from error than German law during the 1930s? Than the law in the USSR during Stalin’s purges? Every society has to balance respect for the law with trying to discern cases where what is legal in a particular time and place may not be what is right. That’s what individual conscience, for those who believe that such a thing exists, is meant to do.
“What makes anyone think that American law is more immune from error than German law during the 1930s? Than the law in the USSR during Stalin’s purges? “
One of the top ten most ignorant posts ever and certainly more proof of the Hate America liberal indoctrination occurring in our public school systems.
It’s called the US Constitution and it guarantees rights and a judicial process that insures those rights.
“What Again”:…Pon su cabeza donde no esta brillando el sol…por favor!!!
Let’s see. The Constitution was in existence during the period of slavery, when all kinds of human rights abuses were committed, legally, in this country. The Constitution was in existence during the period in which the suffragists were jailed for peacefully demonstrating in favor of women being granted the right to vote. When the suffragists went on hunger strike in the jails where they were imprisoned, asking to be classified as political prisoners and granted the rights of political prisoners, they were force fed. At one point the powers-that-be tried to get at least one of the suffragist leaders committed to a mental institution. These are FACTS in American history. There are others that could be mentioned.
So what was up with the “rights” and “a judicial process that insures those rights” for African Americans before the 13th amendment and women before the 19th amendment? I suppose if some of the commenters in these streams had run across an abolitionist before the 13th amendment or a suffragist before the 19th amendment they would have said “Illegal is illegal – case closed,” and the abuses and denial of rights would have continued.
The Constitution is a work in progress. You can respect it and be grateful that we have it without believing that at any given point it is necessarily perfect and necessarily guaranteeing that no failures in the delivery of justice are happening in our country.
On another subject, I’m really tired of the insults and name calling that keep appearing in these streams. Many people are angry about the results of this election, and others are angry about what their political adversaries are saying about the results of this election.
Seems like it should be possible to compare perspectives and opinions without resorting to incivilities.
These clowns should read Mexico’s immigration laws.
Jeeze, you guys. Your man-baby won but you sound more unhinged than ever. What’s the matter, tulips, afraid Santa’s not going to give you that internment camp for Christmas?
You’re the puppet!
I sure am. The puppet who doesn’t have to worry about his gun rights being trampled on, The puppet who is going to enjoy a new robust economy. See Carrier, U.S Steel and the stock market. Chump.
Your man-baby will sell you out.
Our Founding Fathers understood the fundamental importance of Public Education in our Democracy; teaching Citizens to Understand and Respect the Diversity in our Democracy; that the very nature of our Democracy creates a Complementary/Interactive, Mutual Dependent Social System with the Requirement to provide Assistance to others when Assistance is Necessary.
The Liberal /Progressive interpretation of our Constitution, in my view, does NOT represent any threat to our Democracy. The real threat, as it always has been, is represented by Ultra Conservatives; those who would ignore the First Amendment of our Constitution; using their “Holy Book” and Money, to impose their Religious/Political views on others.
Our Democracy, as is any Democracy, inherently contentious in the competition of Political Ideologies; initially with the Federalists vs. Anti-Federalists; now with, in the main, Democrats vs. Republicans. We have developed, sadly and dangerously, into a “Democracy” that is controlled by powerful Financial Interests Groups that are using their money to “buy” “Politicians” and, as a result, control the electoral process.
The American Voter need to wake up and participate in the electoral process, at all levels of Government; using their notion of what is in the best interests of all US Citizens and their Understanding of our Constitutionally Protected Liberties. We will lose the latter if we do not.
The question is: as a car driving toward a precipice; are we at the fulcrum or have we moved beyond?
Democracy while it lasts is more bloody than either aristocracy or monarchy. Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There is never a democracy that did not commit suicide. President John Adams
They’re okay with that.
They still feel it’s a better deal than having a Kenyan Muslim running things.
It’s better to get fucked over by their own kind than be tolerant with someone that has darker skin.
That’s what it’s been about since the first day Obama served office. And they sure weren’t gonna let it continue with a bleeder in charge. You know, they…meaning the +2 million less of us and the electoral college.
They are so blinded by hate that they just can’t see things for what they are. The bigger of 2 evils won, meaning everyone else will lose. Good job ‘Murica!
What will Phoenix Union graduates, and other high school graduates, face in their lives after high school?
In a country where the cost of higher education used to be affordable, 300% less 30 years ago than what it is now, costs of college degrees and professional degrees are now sky-high and our children are being asked to mortgage their futures to an extortionate banking system in order to get the degrees that will qualify them to work 60-70-hour a week for forty years or more in professional occupations, where many of them will spend the first 30 years of their careers paying down tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars of undismissable student loan debt.
There’s a lot of analysis and reporting that needs to be done in the current context, for those who care about getting American legal, economic, and educational systems better aligned with what is JUST. And it’s getting to the point where it’s not just about what’s “just” — it’s about what is functional and sustainable. Sectors that are now barely functional, given the strain they’re under, are beginning to break down.
Bitching about Trump’s tweets and attending “we’re all in this together” safety pin rallies won’t get the work that needs to be done, done. Nor will getting lost in Panglossian myths of American exceptionalism get it done.
Even more depressing than where we are as a nation is what people on both sides of the aisle are choosing to say about where we are. The BS we have to listen to in the 24/7 R and D affiliated media circuses bears very little relation to the dangers we actually face.
All this disagreement seems pretty intense to me.
Is it possible that we are ABLE TO DISAGREE because we have assumed some rights to do so in our country?
Does that mean they can NOT BE abridged, or taken away? But THAT is off the subject. The subject seems to be that someone has had the gumption to stand up and say that each and every human life is IMPORTANT and deserving of preservation and encouragement to achieve as fully as possible !
That is such a contrary view that it makes some feel threatened and afraid !
I wonder WHY?
Larry Schnebly, Tucson.
That is not at all what they said. Safier posted that they would stand behind them regardless of a change in law. So they are teaching them to ignore laws tgat they dont agree with.
You can’t pick and choose the laws you like, even if you watched Bill and Hillary do it for most of their lives. Letting them, has emboldened many of you to support lawlessness.
Stop it.
It has been ok to slam Bill and Hillary because they have put themselves front and center in public service one way or another, but they are gone. Now the real drama begins as Trump is front and center and totally without competition. If there are any real journalists or writers or politicians who do not blindly believe fake news, then they should realize that there are millions and millions of us who really want to read about Trump’s true background: taxes, business deals, foreign governments, cronyism, bribes, media manipulation and possible illegal acts. No more “But Hillary…” because she is gone, gone, really gone.