0:00:00.826,0:00:03.404
I want to talk to you about my kids.

0:00:03.743,0:00:08.391
Now, I know everyone thinks[br]that their kid is the most fantastic,

0:00:08.415,0:00:10.490
the most beautiful kid that ever lived.

0:00:11.352,0:00:12.601
But mine really are.

0:00:12.625,0:00:13.932
(Laughter)

0:00:13.956,0:00:16.330
I have 696 kids,

0:00:16.354,0:00:20.806
and they are the most intelligent,[br]inventive, innovative,

0:00:20.830,0:00:24.676
brilliant and powerful kids[br]that you'll ever meet.

0:00:25.263,0:00:30.086
Any student I've had the honor of teaching[br]in my classroom is my kid.

0:00:30.702,0:00:34.521
However, because their "real"[br]parents aren't rich

0:00:34.545,0:00:37.421
and, I argue, because they[br]are mostly of color,

0:00:37.445,0:00:39.951
they will seldom get to see in themselves

0:00:39.975,0:00:42.391
the awesomeness that I see in them.

0:00:42.839,0:00:45.353
Because what I see in them is myself --

0:00:45.896,0:00:48.336
or what would have been myself.

0:00:49.645,0:00:52.038
I am the daughter of two hardworking,

0:00:52.062,0:00:54.680
college-educated, African-American parents

0:00:54.704,0:00:57.418
who chose careers as public servants:

0:00:57.442,0:01:01.054
my father, a minister;[br]my mother, an educator.

0:01:01.078,0:01:04.614
Wealth was never the primary[br]ambition in our house.

0:01:04.981,0:01:06.737
Because of this lack of wealth,

0:01:06.761,0:01:08.971
we lived in a neighborhood[br]that lacked wealth,

0:01:08.995,0:01:11.838
and henceforth a school system[br]that lacked wealth.

0:01:12.307,0:01:16.147
Luckily, however, we struck[br]the educational jackpot

0:01:16.171,0:01:18.542
in a voluntary desegregation program

0:01:18.566,0:01:21.934
that buses inner-city kids --[br]black and brown --

0:01:21.958,0:01:24.612
out to suburban schools -- rich and white.

0:01:25.288,0:01:29.049
At five years old, I had to take[br]an hour-long bus ride

0:01:29.073,0:01:31.134
to a faraway place

0:01:31.158,0:01:32.955
to get a better education.

0:01:33.522,0:01:38.136
At five years old, I thought[br]everyone had a life just like mine.

0:01:38.621,0:01:40.651
I thought everyone went to school

0:01:40.675,0:01:43.034
and were the only ones[br]using the brown crayons

0:01:43.058,0:01:44.726
to color in their family portraits,

0:01:44.750,0:01:47.831
while everyone else was using[br]the peach-colored ones.

0:01:48.559,0:01:52.174
At five years old, I thought[br]everyone was just like me.

0:01:52.792,0:01:56.111
But as I got older, I started[br]noticing things, like:

0:01:56.948,0:01:59.510
How come my neighborhood friend[br]don't have to wake up

0:01:59.534,0:02:01.072
at five o'clock in the morning,

0:02:01.096,0:02:03.607
and go to a school that's an hour away?

0:02:04.278,0:02:06.528
How come I'm learning to play the violin

0:02:06.552,0:02:10.260
while my neighborhood friends[br]don't even have a music class?

0:02:11.040,0:02:14.584
Why were my neighborhood friends[br]learning and reading material

0:02:14.608,0:02:17.036
that I had done two to three years prior?

0:02:17.882,0:02:19.980
See, as I got older,

0:02:20.762,0:02:24.691
I started to have[br]this unlawful feeling in my belly,

0:02:24.715,0:02:28.623
like I was doing something[br]that I wasn't supposed to be doing;

0:02:28.647,0:02:31.358
taking something that wasn't mine;

0:02:31.819,0:02:33.109
receiving a gift,

0:02:33.544,0:02:35.571
but with someone else's name on it.

0:02:35.929,0:02:39.433
All these amazing things[br]that I was being exposed to

0:02:39.457,0:02:41.155
and experiencing,

0:02:41.179,0:02:44.454
I felt I wasn't really supposed to have.

0:02:45.189,0:02:49.216
I wasn't supposed to have a library,[br]fully equipped athletic facilities,

0:02:49.240,0:02:51.712
or safe fields to play in.

0:02:52.208,0:02:54.455
I wasn't supposed to have[br]theatre departments

0:02:54.479,0:02:56.844
with seasonal plays and concerts --

0:02:56.868,0:02:59.105
digital, visual, performing arts.

0:02:59.603,0:03:04.259
I wasn't supposed to have[br]fully resourced biology or chemistry labs,

0:03:04.283,0:03:07.085
school buses that brought me door-to-door,

0:03:07.109,0:03:09.537
freshly prepared school lunches

0:03:09.561,0:03:11.305
or even air conditioning.

0:03:12.127,0:03:14.057
These are things my kids don't get.

0:03:14.661,0:03:16.198
You see, as I got older,

0:03:16.222,0:03:19.239
while I was grateful[br]for this amazing opportunity

0:03:19.263,0:03:20.909
that I was being given,

0:03:20.933,0:03:23.661
there was this ever-present pang of:

0:03:24.210,0:03:26.629
But what about everyone else?

0:03:27.137,0:03:30.507
There are thousands[br]of other kids just like me,

0:03:30.531,0:03:32.267
who deserve this, too.

0:03:32.291,0:03:34.429
Why doesn't everyone get this?

0:03:34.453,0:03:38.793
Why is a high-quality education[br]only exclusive to the rich?

0:03:39.634,0:03:43.198
It was like I had some sort[br]of survivor's remorse.

0:03:43.222,0:03:45.954
All of my neighborhood friends[br]were experiencing

0:03:45.978,0:03:47.803
an educational train wreck

0:03:47.827,0:03:51.516
that I was saved from through a bus ride.

0:03:52.067,0:03:54.561
I was like an educational Moses screaming,

0:03:54.585,0:03:56.194
"Let my people go ...

0:03:56.218,0:03:58.055
to high-quality schools!"

0:03:58.079,0:03:59.496
(Laughter)

0:03:59.520,0:04:04.080
I'd seen firsthand how the other half[br]was being treated and educated.

0:04:04.104,0:04:07.043
I'd seen the educational promised land,

0:04:07.067,0:04:11.306
and I could not for the life of me[br]justify the disparity.

0:04:13.550,0:04:18.292
I now teach in the very same school system[br]from which I sought refuge.

0:04:18.870,0:04:23.407
I know firsthand the tools[br]that were given to me as a student,

0:04:23.431,0:04:27.354
and now as a teacher, I don't have[br]access to those same tools

0:04:27.378,0:04:28.942
to give my students.

0:04:29.451,0:04:34.026
There have been countless nights[br]when I've cried in frustration,

0:04:34.050,0:04:35.326
anger

0:04:35.350,0:04:36.741
and sorrow,

0:04:36.765,0:04:40.056
because I can't teach my kids[br]the way that I was taught,

0:04:40.581,0:04:44.772
because I don't have access[br]to the same resources or tools

0:04:44.796,0:04:46.686
that were used to teach me.

0:04:47.393,0:04:49.564
My kids deserve so much better.

0:04:50.270,0:04:53.133
We sit and we keep banging[br]our heads against this term:

0:04:53.157,0:04:55.722
"Achievement gap, achievement gap!"

0:04:56.462,0:04:59.394
Is it really that hard to understand

0:04:59.418,0:05:02.643
why these kids perform well[br]and these kids don't?

0:05:02.667,0:05:04.092
I mean, really.

0:05:04.664,0:05:06.931
I think we've got it all wrong.

0:05:06.955,0:05:08.116
I think we,

0:05:08.140,0:05:10.222
as Gloria Ladson-Billings says,

0:05:10.246,0:05:14.988
should flip our paradigm and our language[br]and call it what it really is.

0:05:15.516,0:05:17.135
It's not an achievement gap;

0:05:17.878,0:05:19.806
it's an education debt,

0:05:20.417,0:05:25.695
for all of the foregone schooling[br]resources that were never invested

0:05:25.719,0:05:29.564
in the education of the black[br]and brown child over time.

0:05:30.820,0:05:33.846
A little-known secret in American history

0:05:33.870,0:05:38.923
is that the only American institution[br]created specifically for people of color

0:05:39.714,0:05:41.280
is the American slave trade --

0:05:41.866,0:05:43.815
and some would argue the prison system,

0:05:43.839,0:05:46.065
but that's another topic[br]for another TED Talk.

0:05:46.089,0:05:47.239
(Laughter)

0:05:47.654,0:05:51.947
The public school system of this country[br]was built, bought and paid for

0:05:51.971,0:05:56.258
using commerce generated[br]from the slave trade and slave labor.

0:05:56.651,0:06:00.614
While African-Americans were enslaved[br]and prohibited from schooling,

0:06:00.638,0:06:03.797
their labor established[br]the very institution

0:06:03.821,0:06:05.509
from which they were excluded.

0:06:06.042,0:06:11.121
Ever since then, every court case,[br]educational policy, reform,

0:06:11.145,0:06:14.399
has been an attempt[br]to retrofit the design,

0:06:14.423,0:06:17.083
rather than just stopping[br]and acknowledging:

0:06:17.107,0:06:19.715
we've had it all wrong from the beginning.

0:06:21.243,0:06:25.286
An oversimplification[br]of American educational history.

0:06:25.310,0:06:26.822
All right, just bear with me.

0:06:27.681,0:06:30.758
Blacks were kept out -- you know,[br]the whole slavery thing.

0:06:31.256,0:06:33.333
With the help[br]of philanthropic white people,

0:06:33.357,0:06:34.911
they built their own schools.

0:06:34.935,0:06:37.269
Separate but equal was OK.

0:06:37.729,0:06:40.459
But while we all know[br]things were indeed separate,

0:06:40.483,0:06:42.139
they were in no ways equal.

0:06:42.571,0:06:47.736
Enter Brown v. the Board of Education[br]of Topeka, Kansas in 1954;

0:06:47.760,0:06:50.991
legal separation of the races[br]is now illegal.

0:06:51.900,0:06:58.129
But very few people pay attention[br]to all of the court cases since then,

0:06:58.153,0:07:03.426
that have undone the educational[br]promised land for every child

0:07:03.450,0:07:06.414
that Brown v. Board intended.

0:07:06.438,0:07:10.156
Some argue that today our schools[br]are now more segregated

0:07:10.180,0:07:14.916
than they ever were before we tried[br]to desegregate them in the first place.

0:07:15.963,0:07:19.556
Teaching my kids about desegregation,[br]the Little Rock Nine,

0:07:19.580,0:07:20.883
the Civil Rights Movement,

0:07:20.907,0:07:24.237
is a real awkward moment in my classroom,

0:07:24.261,0:07:26.962
when I have to hear[br]the voice of a child ask,

0:07:27.940,0:07:31.243
"If schools were desegregated in 1954,

0:07:31.267,0:07:33.564
how come there are no white kids here?"

0:07:33.588,0:07:35.048
(Laughter)

0:07:35.072,0:07:36.428
These kids aren't dumb.

0:07:37.292,0:07:39.016
They know exactly what's happening,

0:07:39.542,0:07:40.889
and what's not.

0:07:41.526,0:07:43.760
They know that when it comes to schooling,

0:07:44.670,0:07:46.260
black lives don't matter

0:07:47.081,0:07:48.493
and they never have.

0:07:50.316,0:07:56.831
For years, I tried desperately[br]to cultivate in my kids a love of reading.

0:07:57.416,0:08:00.280
I'd amassed a modest classroom library

0:08:00.304,0:08:03.601
of books I'd accumulated[br]from secondhand shops,

0:08:03.625,0:08:06.088
thrift stores, attics -- you know.

0:08:06.112,0:08:08.572
But whenever I said those dreadful words,

0:08:08.596,0:08:10.792
"Take out a book and read,"

0:08:10.816,0:08:13.249
you'd think I'd just declared war.

0:08:13.273,0:08:14.966
It was torture.

0:08:15.693,0:08:16.857
One day,

0:08:17.184,0:08:20.314
after I'd heard about this website[br]called DonorsChoose,

0:08:20.338,0:08:22.654
where classroom teachers create wish lists

0:08:22.678,0:08:24.782
of items they need for their classroom

0:08:24.806,0:08:27.333
and anonymous donors fulfill them,

0:08:27.357,0:08:31.358
I figured I'd go out on a limb[br]and just make a wish list

0:08:31.382,0:08:34.595
of the teenager's dream library.

0:08:35.698,0:08:39.890
Over 200 brand-new books[br]were sent to my room piece by piece.

0:08:40.672,0:08:45.245
Every day there were new deliveries[br]and my kids would exclaim with glee,

0:08:45.269,0:08:47.226
"This feels like Christmas!"

0:08:47.250,0:08:48.330
(Laughter)

0:08:48.354,0:08:49.519
Then they'd say,

0:08:49.543,0:08:52.415
"Ms. Sumner, where did[br]these books come from?"

0:08:52.439,0:08:53.655
And then I'd reply,

0:08:53.679,0:08:57.655
"Strangers from all over the country[br]wanted you to have these."

0:08:58.274,0:09:00.951
And then they'd say, almost suspiciously,

0:09:02.474,0:09:04.201
"But they're brand-new."

0:09:04.225,0:09:05.227
(Laughter)

0:09:05.251,0:09:06.830
To which I'd reply,

0:09:06.854,0:09:08.634
"You deserve brand-new books."

0:09:10.137,0:09:13.560
The whole experience hit home[br]for me when one of my girls,

0:09:13.584,0:09:16.654
as she peeled open a crisp paperback said,

0:09:17.582,0:09:21.960
"Ms. Sumner -- you know,[br]I figured you bought these books,

0:09:21.984,0:09:24.722
'cause you teachers[br]are always buying us stuff.

0:09:25.158,0:09:29.187
But to know that a stranger,[br]someone I don't even know,

0:09:29.211,0:09:30.910
cares this much about me

0:09:31.480,0:09:32.935
is pretty cool."

0:09:33.870,0:09:36.495
Knowing that strangers[br]will take care of you

0:09:36.519,0:09:38.545
is a privilege my kids aren't afforded.

0:09:40.342,0:09:41.784
Ever since the donation,

0:09:41.808,0:09:45.666
there has been a steady stream of kids[br]signing out books to take home,

0:09:45.690,0:09:48.350
and then returning them[br]with the exclamation,

0:09:48.374,0:09:49.962
"This one was good!"

0:09:49.986,0:09:51.034
(Laughter)

0:09:51.058,0:09:53.360
Now when I say,[br]"Take out a book and read,"

0:09:53.384,0:09:55.603
kids rush to my library.

0:09:56.849,0:09:58.896
It wasn't that they didn't want to read,

0:09:58.920,0:10:03.470
but instead, they'd gladly read[br]if the resources were there.

0:10:05.579,0:10:07.231
Institutionally speaking,

0:10:07.255,0:10:11.607
our public school system has never[br]done right by the black and brown child.

0:10:12.068,0:10:14.616
We keep focusing on the end results

0:10:14.640,0:10:16.005
or test results,

0:10:16.029,0:10:17.875
and getting frustrated.

0:10:17.899,0:10:20.036
We get to a catastrophe and we wonder,

0:10:20.060,0:10:22.897
"How did it get so bad?[br]How did we get here?"

0:10:23.890,0:10:25.045
Really?

0:10:25.439,0:10:27.514
If you neglect a child long enough,

0:10:27.538,0:10:30.628
you no longer have[br]the right to be surprised

0:10:30.652,0:10:32.483
when things don't turn out well.

0:10:33.319,0:10:35.053
Stop being perplexed

0:10:35.077,0:10:36.703
or confused

0:10:36.727,0:10:38.203
or befuddled

0:10:38.680,0:10:40.606
by the achievement gap,

0:10:40.630,0:10:41.853
the income gap,

0:10:41.877,0:10:43.496
the incarceration rates,

0:10:43.520,0:10:48.567
or whatever socioeconomic disparity[br]is the new "it" term for the moment.

0:10:49.248,0:10:51.690
The problems we have as a country

0:10:51.714,0:10:53.797
are the problems we created as a country.

0:10:54.740,0:10:58.278
The quality of your education[br]is directly proportionate

0:10:58.302,0:11:00.160
to your access to college,

0:11:00.184,0:11:01.912
your access to jobs,

0:11:01.936,0:11:03.644
your access to the future.

0:11:05.594,0:11:10.864
Until we live in a world where every kid[br]can get a high-quality education

0:11:10.888,0:11:12.424
no matter where they live,

0:11:12.448,0:11:14.328
or the color of their skin,

0:11:14.352,0:11:18.412
there are things we can do[br]on a macro level.

0:11:19.389,0:11:22.953
School funding should not[br]be decided by property taxes

0:11:22.977,0:11:25.208
or some funky economic equation

0:11:25.232,0:11:28.268
where rich kids continue[br]to benefit from state aid,

0:11:28.292,0:11:32.377
while poor kids are continuously[br]having food and resources

0:11:32.401,0:11:33.994
taken from their mouths.

0:11:34.750,0:11:38.511
Governors, senators, mayors,[br]city council members --

0:11:38.535,0:11:41.399
if we're going to call[br]public education public education,

0:11:41.423,0:11:43.006
then it should be just that.

0:11:43.555,0:11:46.538
Otherwise, we should[br]call it what it really is:

0:11:46.562,0:11:48.127
poverty insurance.

0:11:49.211,0:11:50.653
"Public education:

0:11:50.677,0:11:53.765
keeping poor kids poor since 1954."

0:11:53.789,0:11:55.241
(Laughter)

0:11:56.733,0:12:01.831
If we really, as a country, believe[br]that education is the "great equalizer,"

0:12:01.855,0:12:05.686
then it should be just that:[br]equal and equitable.

0:12:06.158,0:12:10.501
Until then, there's no democracy[br]in our democratic education.

0:12:11.493,0:12:13.000
On a mezzo level:

0:12:13.640,0:12:16.842
historically speaking, the education[br]of the black and brown child

0:12:16.866,0:12:20.337
has always depended[br]on the philanthropy of others.

0:12:20.361,0:12:23.155
And unfortunately, today it still does.

0:12:23.770,0:12:28.135
If your son or daughter or niece[br]or nephew or neighbor

0:12:28.159,0:12:29.722
or little Timmy down the street

0:12:30.253,0:12:32.556
goes to an affluent school,

0:12:32.580,0:12:35.754
challenge your school committee[br]to adopt an impoverished school

0:12:35.778,0:12:37.817
or an impoverished classroom.

0:12:37.841,0:12:41.238
Close the divide by engaging[br]in communication

0:12:41.262,0:12:43.459
and relationships that matter.

0:12:44.050,0:12:46.004
When resources are shared,

0:12:46.028,0:12:47.720
they're not divided;

0:12:47.744,0:12:49.201
they're multiplied.

0:12:49.871,0:12:51.710
And on a micro level:

0:12:51.734,0:12:53.554
if you're a human being,

0:12:53.985,0:12:55.151
donate.

0:12:55.524,0:12:59.587
Time, money, resources, opportunities --

0:12:59.611,0:13:01.974
whatever is in your heart.

0:13:02.847,0:13:05.051
There are websites like DonorsChoose

0:13:05.075,0:13:07.129
that recognize the disparity

0:13:07.153,0:13:09.648
and actually want[br]to do something about it.

0:13:11.748,0:13:13.952
What is a carpenter with no tools?

0:13:14.350,0:13:16.672
What is an actress with no stage?

0:13:16.990,0:13:19.447
What is a scientist with no laboratory?

0:13:19.859,0:13:22.586
What is a doctor with no equipment?

0:13:23.270,0:13:24.515
I'll tell you:

0:13:24.970,0:13:26.434
they're my kids.

0:13:27.219,0:13:29.035
Shouldn't they be your kids, too?

0:13:29.893,0:13:31.044
Thank you.

0:13:31.068,0:13:37.273
(Applause)