History of IDEA
Jeannie Oakes, Founder and Former Director
Youth Voice in School Finance
NEW REPORT: Los Angeles' road to A-G for all
Without Dollars and Sense Powerpoint
Past Educational Opportunity Reports
Principled San Jose teen stands up to principal
- 05-03-2010
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Column by Scott Herhold/San Jose Mercury News
In an era of student apathy and fear, Jennifer Phan of Santa Teresa High School might be the shining exception. And it's all the more remarkable that she writes her protest in four-foot letters of pink chalk. A slender young woman with a careful command of rhetoric, Jennifer confronted the administration at Santa Teresa High on Friday with a 15-minute walkout to protest budget cuts affecting counselors, psychologists and career staff. Then, after school, several dozen students showed up at East Side Union High School District headquarters to decorate the sidewalks with chalked expressions of outrage. "Write your passions!" she told them. That passion led her to a clash with Santa Teresa Principal John Duran this week. And it raises the question of just how well-behaved we want kids to be when they confront political and social problems. (more...)
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