If we could get the reforms we really need in place, none of those kids would have to be left behind. I work with these kids every single day. Junior high, and they all can still be reached. But they need to be taken out of mainstream classes, and they need to work one on one with tutors. I've seen miracles happen.

Nobody wants or deserves to be thrown away. Not at any age, but certainly not at the young and tender age of junior and senior high school. These kids are desperate all right--desperate for someone to reach out a helping hand, instead of constantly slapping them down for "misbehaving". Every kid with a thug attitude is desperate to be saved.

I'm no Pollyanna. I work in schools where weapons and assaults are a constant part of our reality. But I also know these kids are just as human as anyone, and they all, every single one of them, deserve so much more than we are giving them.