Lateefah Simon: “I rise today in defense of every child in this Nation who deserves to enter into a classroom and be treated with…”

“I rise today in defense of every child in this Nation who deserves to enter into a classroom and be treated with dignity, care, and respect. In writing these remarks, I thought of my kindergarten teacher, Ms. Jasko at Claire Lilienthal Elementary School in San Francisco. On my first day of kindergarten--I remember it very, very clearly--my last name starts with an s, so I sat at the back of the classroom and kept my head down. I was not verbacious then. Within about 5 minutes of the class starting--and there was a lot of chatter of little children--Ms. Jasko noticed that my head was bowed. She brought me up to the classroom board, and she saw clearly that I was a child with an acute visual impairment. She kissed me on my forehead and asked me to sit by her desk where I sat for the rest of the year. She understood me. I did not have to fight for the right to learn in that class. I sat next to the board. This week, the Supreme Court handed the President of the United States the power to gut the Department of Education without congressional approval.”