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Monthly QuotED: 9 Notable Quotes That Made Education Headlines in October, From College Testing to School Safety — and an Apology From the Houston School Board

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

“I don’t think we’ll get $200 million unless we hit the Powerball.” —Broward County school board chairwoman Nora Rupert, on the funding a report recommended for mental health professionals to treat students and families after the Feb. 14 shooting massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. (Read at the Sun-Sentinel)

Joshua Lott/Getty Images

“The negative trend in math readiness is a red flag for our country, given the growing importance of math and science skills in the increasingly tech-driven U.S. and global job market. It is vital that we turn this trend around.” —Marten Roorda, chief executive of the nonprofit ACT, on sharply declining math scores on this year’s ACT and SAT exams. (Read at The Washington Post)

“The answer that you can go to McDonald’s because they have Wi-Fi isn’t OK. I think that’s a ridiculous statement that we make to kids in poverty.” —Robert Dillon, innovation director for the University City School District in Missouri. (Read at The74Million.org)

“When you have these communities … where everything seems to be leaving, typically the school’s one of the last big things that remains. It’s like once your school closes, that seems like the end of your community, in some ways.” —Greg Deskins, a high school science teacher and president of the Tazewell (Virginia) Education Association, a teachers union, on the struggles of schools in rural communities. (Read at The Washington Post)

New York City Schools Chief Richard Carranza. (Ed Reed/NYC Mayoral Photography Office)

“Are they really measuring giftedness and talentedness, or are they really measuring, when you’re measuring kids at 4 years old, the privilege of the parent?” —New York City Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza, on programs for gifted and talented students. (Read at The74Million.org)

“Particularly after 2016, it’s clear that our country is much more vulnerable to a demagogue who vilifies minorities when schools are racially segregated. When white students know few Mexican-American classmates or Muslim classmates, it’s much easier for someone to suggest that those groups are causing all your problems.” —Richard Kahlenberg, a senior fellow at The Century Foundation, on the importance of integrating schools. (Read at The74Million.org)

“These findings are just awful for anyone who wants a future. It’s worse than a criminal conviction, or just as bad.” —Jesse Binnall, attorney for a student and his father suing the Fairfax County, Virginia, school district, saying the boy was unfairly punished for sexual misconduct because of his gender. The boy and his father say media reports that “suggest the pervasive nature of sexual assault committed by male students” influenced the district. (Read at The Washington Post)

“We don’t need police officers patrolling the hallways of schools — that’s for school administrators to do. Police have a much bigger role in the community, and it’s not arresting 14-year-olds for disorderly conduct in a hallway.” —James Harris, superintendent of Pennsylvania’s Woodland Hills School District. Five youths who described a culture of abuse at the suburban Pittsburgh school system reached a half-million-dollar settlement with the district, officials, and police they say perpetrated violence against them. (Read at The74Million.org)

“Our actions have not modeled the behavior that we hope to instill in our children that we serve.” —Trustee Diana Dávila, who issued a formal apology on behalf of Houston’s nine-member school board for its contentious and dysfunctional behavior over the past 10 months. (Read at The Houston Chronicle)

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

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