0:00:00.890,0:00:03.627
I want to talk to you about my kids.

0:00:03.871,0:00:08.556
Now, I know everyone thinks[br]that their kid is the most fantastic --

0:00:08.556,0:00:11.662
the most beautiful[br]kid that ever lived ...

0:00:11.662,0:00:12.934
but mine really are.

0:00:12.934,0:00:14.115
(Laughter)

0:00:14.115,0:00:16.588
I have 696 kids,

0:00:16.588,0:00:18.774
and they are the most intelligent,

0:00:18.774,0:00:19.910
inventive,

0:00:19.910,0:00:21.146
innovative,

0:00:21.146,0:00:24.808
brilliant and powerful kids[br]that you'll ever meet.

0:00:25.319,0:00:30.118
Any student I've had the honor[br]of teaching in my classroom is my kid.

0:00:30.980,0:00:34.736
However, because their[br]"real" parents aren't rich,

0:00:34.736,0:00:37.679
and I argue because[br]they are mostly of color,

0:00:37.679,0:00:42.957
they will seldom get to see in themselves[br]the awesomeness that I see in them.

0:00:42.957,0:00:46.127
Because what I see in them is myself --

0:00:46.127,0:00:48.567
or what would have been myself.

0:00:49.836,0:00:52.252
I am the daughter of two hardworking,

0:00:52.252,0:00:53.435
college educated,

0:00:53.435,0:00:54.834
African-American parents

0:00:54.834,0:00:57.554
who chose careers as public servants.

0:00:57.554,0:00:58.604
My father --

0:00:58.604,0:00:59.604
a minister.

0:00:59.604,0:01:00.604
My mother --

0:01:00.604,0:01:01.604
an educator.

0:01:01.604,0:01:05.164
Wealth was never the primary[br]ambition in our house.

0:01:05.164,0:01:06.981
Because of this lack of wealth,

0:01:06.981,0:01:09.214
we lived in a neighborhood[br]that lacked wealth,

0:01:09.214,0:01:12.057
and henceforth a school system[br]that lacked wealth.

0:01:12.498,0:01:13.834
Luckily, however

0:01:13.834,0:01:16.473
we struck the educational jackpot

0:01:16.473,0:01:18.867
in a voluntary desegregation program

0:01:18.867,0:01:21.102
that buses inner-city kids --

0:01:21.102,0:01:22.172
black and brown --

0:01:22.172,0:01:23.968
out to suburban schools --

0:01:23.968,0:01:25.312
rich and white.

0:01:25.582,0:01:29.240
At five years old I had to take[br]an hour-long bus ride

0:01:29.240,0:01:31.406
to a far away place

0:01:31.406,0:01:33.203
to get a better education.

0:01:33.586,0:01:38.459
At five years old I thought[br]everyone had a life just like mine.

0:01:38.764,0:01:40.952
I thought everyone went to school

0:01:40.952,0:01:43.289
and were the only ones[br]using the brown crayons

0:01:43.289,0:01:44.975
to color in their family portraits,

0:01:44.975,0:01:48.308
while everyone else was using[br]the peach-colored ones.

0:01:48.782,0:01:52.983
At five years old I thought[br]everyone was just like me,

0:01:52.983,0:01:57.194
but as I got older I started[br]noticing things like:

0:01:57.194,0:01:58.849
how come my neighborhood friends

0:01:58.849,0:02:01.356
don't have to wake up[br]at five o'clock in the morning,

0:02:01.356,0:02:04.037
and go to a school that's an hour away?

0:02:04.342,0:02:06.871
How come I'm learning to play the violin

0:02:06.871,0:02:10.963
while my neighborhood friends[br]don't even have a music class?

0:02:11.239,0:02:14.983
Why were my neighborhood friends[br]learning and reading material

0:02:14.983,0:02:17.852
that I had done two to three years prior?

0:02:18.145,0:02:21.064
See, as I got older,

0:02:21.064,0:02:25.016
I started to have this unlawful[br]feeling in my belly,

0:02:25.016,0:02:28.947
like I was doing something that I[br]wasn't supposed to be doing --

0:02:28.947,0:02:32.161
taking something that wasn't mine,

0:02:32.161,0:02:33.838
receiving a gift

0:02:33.838,0:02:36.318
but with someone else's name on it.

0:02:36.318,0:02:39.632
All these amazing things[br]that I was being exposed to

0:02:39.632,0:02:41.353
and experiencing,

0:02:41.353,0:02:45.047
I felt I wasn't really supposed to have.

0:02:45.388,0:02:47.588
I wasn't supposed to have a library,

0:02:47.588,0:02:49.479
fully equipped athletic facilities,

0:02:49.479,0:02:51.951
or safe fields to play in.

0:02:52.376,0:02:54.646
I wasn't supposed to have[br]theatre departments

0:02:54.646,0:02:57.034
with seasonal plays and concerts --

0:02:57.034,0:02:59.559
digital, visual, performing arts.

0:02:59.739,0:03:04.418
I wasn't supposed to have fully[br]resourced biology or chemistry labs,

0:03:04.418,0:03:07.243
school buses that brought me door-to-door,

0:03:07.243,0:03:09.863
freshly prepared school lunches

0:03:09.863,0:03:11.607
or ever air conditioning.

0:03:12.326,0:03:14.465
These are things my kids don't get.

0:03:14.884,0:03:16.534
You see as I got older,

0:03:16.534,0:03:19.667
while I was grateful for[br]this amazing opportunity

0:03:19.667,0:03:21.275
that I was being given,

0:03:21.275,0:03:24.543
there was this ever-present pang of ...

0:03:24.543,0:03:27.344
but what about everyone else?

0:03:27.344,0:03:30.678
There are thousands[br]of other kids just like me

0:03:30.678,0:03:32.437
who deserve this, too.

0:03:32.437,0:03:34.598
Why doesn't everyone get this?

0:03:34.598,0:03:38.787
Why is a high-quality education[br]only exclusive to the rich?

0:03:39.857,0:03:43.405
It was like I had some[br]sort of survivor's remorse.

0:03:43.405,0:03:48.009
All of my neighborhood friends were[br]experiencing an educational trainwreck

0:03:48.009,0:03:52.033
that I was saved from through a bus ride.

0:03:52.290,0:03:54.807
I was like an educational Moses screaming,

0:03:54.807,0:03:56.525
"Let my people go ...

0:03:56.525,0:03:58.478
to high quality schools!"

0:03:58.701,0:03:59.773
(Laughter)

0:03:59.965,0:04:04.454
I'd seen firsthand how the other half[br]was being treated and educated.

0:04:04.454,0:04:07.226
I'd seen the educational promised land,

0:04:07.226,0:04:11.465
and I could not for the life of me[br]justify the disparity.

0:04:13.764,0:04:18.334
I now teach in the very same school[br]system from which I sought refuge.

0:04:19.108,0:04:23.654
I know firsthand the tools[br]that were given to me as a student,

0:04:23.654,0:04:25.169
and now as a teacher,

0:04:25.169,0:04:27.718
I don't have access to those same tools

0:04:27.718,0:04:29.282
to give my students.

0:04:29.785,0:04:34.241
There have been countless[br]nights when I've cried in frustration,

0:04:34.241,0:04:35.540
anger

0:04:35.540,0:04:37.041
and sorrow,

0:04:37.041,0:04:40.828
because I can't teach my kids[br]the way that I was taught --

0:04:40.828,0:04:44.923
because I don't have access[br]to the same resources or tools

0:04:44.923,0:04:47.145
that were used to teach me.

0:04:47.512,0:04:50.155
My kids deserve so much better.

0:04:50.477,0:04:53.363
We sit and we keep banging[br]our heads again this term:

0:04:53.363,0:04:54.471
"Achievement gap,

0:04:54.471,0:04:56.008
achievement gap!"

0:04:56.700,0:04:59.655
Is it really that hard to understand

0:04:59.655,0:05:02.903
why these kids perform well[br]and these kids don't?

0:05:02.903,0:05:04.328
I mean, really.

0:05:04.911,0:05:07.122
I think we've got it all wrong.

0:05:07.122,0:05:08.292
I think we,

0:05:08.292,0:05:10.531
as Gloria Ladson-Billings says,

0:05:10.531,0:05:13.457
should flip our paradigm and our language

0:05:13.457,0:05:15.293
and call it was it really is.

0:05:15.516,0:05:18.132
It's not an achievement gap;

0:05:18.132,0:05:20.573
it's an education debt

0:05:20.573,0:05:24.134
for all of the forgone schooling resources

0:05:24.134,0:05:29.747
that were never invested in the education[br]of the black and brown child over time.

0:05:31.146,0:05:34.037
A little-known secret[br]in American history

0:05:34.037,0:05:39.897
is that the only American institution[br]created specifically for people of color

0:05:39.897,0:05:41.987
is the American slave trade --

0:05:41.987,0:05:43.843
and some would argue the prison system,

0:05:43.843,0:05:46.003
but that's another topic[br]for another TED Talk.

0:05:46.003,0:05:47.069
(Laughter)

0:05:47.940,0:05:52.090
The public school system of this country[br]was built, bought and paid for

0:05:52.090,0:05:56.377
using commerce generated[br]from the slave trade and slave labor.

0:05:56.850,0:05:58.949
While African-Americans were enslaved

0:05:58.949,0:06:00.908
and prohibited from schooling,

0:06:00.908,0:06:03.964
their labor established[br]the very institution

0:06:03.964,0:06:05.865
from which they were excluded.

0:06:06.090,0:06:07.605
Ever since then,

0:06:07.605,0:06:08.795
every court case,

0:06:08.795,0:06:10.320
educational policy --

0:06:10.320,0:06:11.425
reform --

0:06:11.425,0:06:14.649
has been an attempt to retrofit the design

0:06:14.649,0:06:17.332
rather than just stopping[br]and acknowledging:

0:06:17.332,0:06:20.287
we've had it all wrong from the beginning.

0:06:21.442,0:06:25.580
An oversimplification of American[br]educational history.

0:06:25.580,0:06:27.408
All right just bear with me.

0:06:27.903,0:06:29.343
Blacks were kept out --

0:06:29.343,0:06:31.146
you know, the whole slavery thing.

0:06:31.368,0:06:33.506
With the help of[br]philanthropic white people,

0:06:33.506,0:06:35.083
they built their own schools.

0:06:35.083,0:06:37.592
Separate but equal was okay.

0:06:37.849,0:06:40.708
But while we all know[br]things were indeed separate,

0:06:40.708,0:06:42.770
they were in no ways equal.

0:06:42.770,0:06:47.958
Enter Brown v. Board of Education[br]of Topeka, Kansas in 1954;

0:06:47.958,0:06:51.506
legal separation of the races[br]is now illegal.

0:06:52.131,0:06:55.528
But very few people pay attention

0:06:55.528,0:06:58.368
to all of the court cases since then

0:06:58.368,0:07:03.664
that have undone the educational[br]promised land for every child

0:07:03.664,0:07:06.478
that Brown v. Board intended.

0:07:06.651,0:07:10.392
Some argue that today our schools[br]are now more segregated

0:07:10.392,0:07:15.128
than they ever were before we tried[br]the desegregate them in the first place.

0:07:15.996,0:07:18.603
Teaching my kids about desegregation --

0:07:18.603,0:07:19.675
the Little Rock Nine,

0:07:19.675,0:07:21.040
the Civil Rights Movement --

0:07:21.040,0:07:24.373
is a real awkward moment in my classroom,

0:07:24.373,0:07:28.091
when I have to hear[br]the voice of a child ask,

0:07:28.091,0:07:31.291
"If schools were desegregated in 1954,

0:07:31.291,0:07:33.831
how come there are no white kids here?"

0:07:33.831,0:07:35.207
(Laughter)

0:07:35.207,0:07:36.853
These kids aren't dumb.

0:07:37.459,0:07:39.773
They know exactly what's happening,

0:07:39.773,0:07:41.506
and what's not.

0:07:41.685,0:07:44.925
They know that when[br]it comes to schooling ...

0:07:44.925,0:07:47.335
black lives don't matter,

0:07:47.335,0:07:49.208
and they never have.

0:07:50.650,0:07:53.702
For years I tried desperately

0:07:53.702,0:07:57.232
to cultivate in my kids a love of reading.

0:07:57.592,0:08:00.479
I'd amassed a modest classroom library

0:08:00.479,0:08:03.625
of books I'd accumulated[br]from secondhand shops,

0:08:03.625,0:08:04.626
thrift stores,

0:08:04.626,0:08:05.631
attics --

0:08:05.631,0:08:06.580
you know.

0:08:06.580,0:08:08.779
But whenever I said those dreadful words,

0:08:08.779,0:08:11.094
"Take out a book and read,"

0:08:11.094,0:08:13.503
you'd think I'd just declared war.

0:08:13.503,0:08:15.427
It was torture.

0:08:15.908,0:08:17.454
One day,

0:08:17.454,0:08:20.521
after I heard about this website[br]called [DonorsChoose],

0:08:20.521,0:08:24.964
where classroom teachers create wish lists[br]of items they need for their classroom,

0:08:24.964,0:08:27.514
and anonymous donors fulfill them,

0:08:27.514,0:08:29.473
I figured I'd go out on a limb,

0:08:29.473,0:08:34.645
and just make a wish list[br]of the teenager's dream library.

0:08:35.754,0:08:39.946
Over 200 brand new books[br]were sent to my room piece by piece.

0:08:40.831,0:08:42.945
Every day there were new deliveries

0:08:42.945,0:08:45.523
and my kids would exclaim with glee,

0:08:45.523,0:08:47.503
"This feels like Christmas!"

0:08:47.503,0:08:48.509
(Laughter)

0:08:48.509,0:08:49.510
Then they'd say,

0:08:49.510,0:08:52.811
"Ms. Sumner, where'd[br]these books come from?"

0:08:52.811,0:08:53.979
And then I'd reply,

0:08:53.979,0:08:57.955
"Strangers from all over the country[br]wanted you to have these."

0:08:58.433,0:08:59.761
And then they'd say,

0:08:59.761,0:09:02.721
almost suspiciously ...

0:09:02.721,0:09:04.471
"But they're brand new."

0:09:04.471,0:09:05.496
(Laughter)

0:09:05.496,0:09:07.098
To which I'd reply,

0:09:07.098,0:09:09.362
"You deserve brand-new books."

0:09:10.376,0:09:13.767
The whole experience hit home[br]for me when one of my girls,

0:09:13.767,0:09:17.773
as she peeled open a crisp paperback said,

0:09:17.773,0:09:19.115
"Ms. Sumner --

0:09:19.115,0:09:20.122
you know,

0:09:20.122,0:09:22.224
I figured you bought these books

0:09:22.224,0:09:25.453
'cause you teachers[br]are always buying us stuff.

0:09:25.453,0:09:27.480
But to know that a stranger,

0:09:27.480,0:09:29.433
someone I don't even know,

0:09:29.433,0:09:33.133
cares this much about me is pretty cool."

0:09:34.094,0:09:36.678
Knowing that strangers[br]will take care of you

0:09:36.678,0:09:39.162
is a privilege my kids aren't afforded.

0:09:40.383,0:09:41.848
Ever since the donation

0:09:41.848,0:09:45.928
there has been a steady stream of kids[br]signing out books to take home,

0:09:45.928,0:09:48.546
and then returning them[br]with the exclamation,

0:09:48.546,0:09:50.496
"This one was good!"

0:09:50.496,0:09:51.502
(Laughter)

0:09:51.502,0:09:53.598
Now when I say, "take out[br]a book and read,"

0:09:53.598,0:09:55.643
kids rush to my library.

0:09:57.064,0:09:59.134
It wasn't that they didn't want to read,

0:09:59.134,0:10:03.684
but instead they'd gladly read[br]if the resources were there.

0:10:05.658,0:10:07.586
Institutionally speaking,

0:10:07.586,0:10:11.867
our public school system has never[br]done right by the black and brown child.

0:10:12.259,0:10:14.830
We keep focusing on the end results,

0:10:14.830,0:10:16.310
or test results,

0:10:16.310,0:10:17.823
and getting frustrated.

0:10:18.122,0:10:20.282
We get to catastrophe and we wonder,

0:10:20.282,0:10:21.780
"How did it get so bad?

0:10:21.780,0:10:23.118
How did we get here?"

0:10:23.961,0:10:25.116
Really?

0:10:25.757,0:10:27.856
If you neglect a child long enough,

0:10:27.856,0:10:29.726
you no longer have the right

0:10:29.726,0:10:32.738
to be surprised when[br]things don't turn out well.

0:10:33.319,0:10:35.298
Stop being perplexed,

0:10:35.298,0:10:36.947
or confused,

0:10:36.947,0:10:38.998
or befuddled

0:10:38.998,0:10:40.948
by the achievement gap,

0:10:40.948,0:10:42.194
the income gap,

0:10:42.194,0:10:43.679
the incarceration rates,

0:10:43.679,0:10:48.726
or whatever socioeconomic disparity[br]is the new "it" term for the moment.

0:10:49.502,0:10:51.937
The problems we have as a country

0:10:51.937,0:10:54.244
are the problems we created as a country.

0:10:54.938,0:10:58.499
The quality of your education[br]is directly proportionate

0:10:58.499,0:11:00.380
to your access to college,

0:11:00.380,0:11:02.131
your access to jobs,

0:11:02.131,0:11:04.401
your access to the future.

0:11:05.825,0:11:11.071
Until we live in a world where every kid[br]can get a high-quality education

0:11:11.071,0:11:12.575
no matter where they live,

0:11:12.575,0:11:14.615
or the color of their skin,

0:11:14.615,0:11:18.998
there are things we can do[br]on a macro level.

0:11:19.564,0:11:23.136
School funding should not[br]be decided by property taxes,

0:11:23.136,0:11:25.497
or some funky economic equation

0:11:25.497,0:11:28.405
where rich kids continue[br]to benefit from state aid

0:11:28.405,0:11:30.337
while poor kids are continuously

0:11:30.337,0:11:34.257
having food and resources[br]taken from their mouths.

0:11:34.957,0:11:38.764
Governors, senators, mayors,[br]city council members --

0:11:38.764,0:11:41.728
if we're going to call public[br]education public education,

0:11:41.728,0:11:43.801
then it should be just that.

0:11:43.801,0:11:46.874
Otherwise we should[br]call it what it really is:

0:11:46.874,0:11:48.714
poverty insurance.

0:11:49.331,0:11:50.910
"Public education:

0:11:50.910,0:11:53.724
keeping poor kids poor since 1954."

0:11:54.021,0:11:55.473
(Laughter)

0:11:56.808,0:11:57.813
If we really,

0:11:57.813,0:11:58.809
as a country,

0:11:58.809,0:12:02.172
believe that education[br]is the "great equalizer,"

0:12:02.172,0:12:03.873
then it should be just that:

0:12:03.873,0:12:06.147
equal and equitable.

0:12:06.365,0:12:08.824
Until then there's no democracy

0:12:08.824,0:12:11.041
in our democratic education.

0:12:11.493,0:12:13.958
On a mezzo level:

0:12:13.958,0:12:15.253
historically speaking,

0:12:15.253,0:12:17.182
the education of a black and brown child

0:12:17.182,0:12:20.233
has always depended[br]on the philanthropy of others.

0:12:20.489,0:12:23.977
And unfortunately today it still does.

0:12:23.977,0:12:25.791
If your son or daughter,

0:12:25.791,0:12:27.023
or niece or nephew,

0:12:27.023,0:12:28.534
or neighbor,

0:12:28.534,0:12:30.579
or little Timmy down the street

0:12:30.579,0:12:32.826
goes to an affluent school,

0:12:32.826,0:12:36.023
challenge your school committee[br]to adopt an impoverished school,

0:12:36.023,0:12:38.085
or an impoverished classroom.

0:12:38.085,0:12:41.416
Close the divide by engaging[br]in communication

0:12:41.416,0:12:43.879
and relationships that matter.

0:12:44.138,0:12:46.221
When resources are shared,

0:12:46.221,0:12:47.936
they're not divided;

0:12:47.936,0:12:49.654
they're multiplied.

0:12:50.062,0:12:51.954
And on a micro level,

0:12:51.954,0:12:54.255
if you're a human being:

0:12:54.255,0:12:55.708
donate ...

0:12:55.708,0:12:59.762
time, money, resources, opportunities --

0:12:59.762,0:13:02.812
whatever is in your heart.

0:13:03.118,0:13:05.266
There are websites like [DonorsChoose]

0:13:05.266,0:13:07.418
that recognize the disparity

0:13:07.418,0:13:10.234
and actually want[br]to do something about it.

0:13:11.962,0:13:14.166
What is a carpenter with no tools?

0:13:14.549,0:13:16.742
What is an actress with no stage?

0:13:17.094,0:13:19.737
What is a scientist with no laboratory?

0:13:20.122,0:13:23.018
What is a doctor with no equipment?

0:13:23.493,0:13:25.145
I'll tell you.

0:13:25.145,0:13:27.012
They're my kids.

0:13:27.410,0:13:29.406
Shouldn't they be your kids, too?

0:13:30.045,0:13:31.041
Thank you.

0:13:31.389,0:13:33.335
(Applause)