is about my students, and all the students in all the schools in all the cities, towns, villages, and rural areas.
It is that they will come to school having eaten - dinner last night, breakfast this morning.
It is that they will have a fixed roof over their heads.
It is that they will have their vision and hearing checked, get the necessary dental care.
It is that their parents will be able to care for them, to have jobs with dignity and decent pay and benefits.
It is that they will be respected and honored: gay, straight, bi- or transgendered; white, black, purple, orange or polka-dot; atheist, devout, of any religion, anti-religion; skinny, fat or in between; tall, medium, or short; born in the US or still hoping to be able to stay.
My American Dream - only part of it. And even for this part, there is more:
I dream that all our children will have teachers who care for them, who are well trained, paid adequately, and committed to their students.
I dream that they will attend in schools without peeling lead-based paint; where mice and roaches do not room; where the heat works in winter and there is ventilation at warmer times; where there are enough seats for all the students in a class; and there are not so many students that the teacher cannot hope to reach them all; where there are enough books, and computers, and seats in the lunchroom.
I dream that they will get to explore, not merely to prepare for tests.
I dream that school will remain an exciting place, not something to be endured.
I dream that we will be willing to pay more for the education of a child than for the incarceration of an adult - and I'd settle for caring and spending enough that we have money for schools and not have to spend it on more prisons.
I have a dream. Not just today. Not just tomorrow.
Because I dream, I still teach.
Because I dream, I still hope.
Because I dream, I still advocate, through writing, through speaking, through marching - as I will on July 30 at the Save Our Schools March and National Call to Action
This is only part I of my American Dream. But a dream has to begin somewhere, does it not?
Peace.