Monthly QuotED: 8 Notable Quotes That Made Education Headlines in February, From School Security to the 2020 Election — and Ed Goes M.I.A. at SOTU

QuotED is a roundup of the most notable quotes behind America’s top education headlines — taken from our weekly EduClips, which spotlights morning headlines from America’s 15 largest school districts. Read previous EduClips installments here.

“To help support working parents, the time has come to pass school choice for America’s children.” —President Donald Trump, offering the one line devoted to K-12 education in his State of the Union address (Read at EdSource)

“I often feel like there’s 1,000 eyes on me while I’m taking a test. It creates a lot of stress and anxiety. Honestly, sometimes I feel I’m invisible, but at the same time, everyone’s watching me to see if I fail.” —Will Barrett, an 11th-grader in the Rochester, New York, suburb of Fairport. Barrett, who is black, said racism is pervasive in school. (Read at USA Today)

“I think Mr. Runcie is trying to control the conversation, keeping media out and keeping other school board members out.” —Broward County school board member Lori Alhadeff, whose daughter Alyssa was murdered during the Feb. 14 massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High in Parkland, on Superintendent Robert Runcie’s decision to cancel a public meeting on safety (Read at the South Florida Sun Sentinel)

“Those numbers are ridiculous, scary. We know injury is a leading cause of death in children, but the sheer scale of intentional violent injuries children are sustaining is stunning.” —Katelyn Jetelina, assistant professor of epidemiology at the UTHealth School of Public Health and author of a paper showing that more than 1 in 4 Houston 10th-graders had been the victim of violence (Read at The Houston Chronicle)

“This is a new and shameful strategy. They are literally going after the reputations and the livelihoods of people who are just trying to do their jobs.” —Greg Richmond, executive director of the National Association of Charter School Authorizers. An investigation by The 74 found that officials in South Carolina, Georgia, and Nevada faced accusations of receiving payoffs and undue perks as they attempted to enforce rules that could shut down for-profit online-only charter schools that posted abysmal academic outcomes. (Read at The74Million.org)

“There are no quick fixes in institutions of this size. The Catholic Church isn’t fixed overnight, the military isn’t fixed overnight, CPS will not be fixed overnight.” —Sean Black, assistant director of the Illinois Coalition Against Sexual Assault, on the sexual misconduct crisis at Chicago Public Schools (Read at The74Million.org)

“I’ve seen people thrown through doors, like it was a movie.” —James Johnson, former Glen Mills Schools student and counselor, on a pattern of staff violence against students at the school for delinquent boys located on the outskirts of Philadelphia (Read at the Philadelphia Inquirer)

“Let’s just say my phone has rung a lot.” —American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten, on interest from the expanding field of 2020 Democratic presidential hopefuls in courting the union vote (Read at U.S. News and World Report)

For a roundup of the day’s top education headlines from America’s 15 largest school districts, go to EduClips.

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