WEEKEND QUOTABLES

Alex Kotlowitz

In the wake of Hadiya Pendleton’s shooting, we’ve talked about stiffer gun control laws, about better policing, about providing mentoring and after-school programs, all of which are essential. But missing from this conversation is any acknowledgment that the violence eats away at one’s soul — whether you’re a direct victim, a witness or, like Anita Stewart, simply a friend of the deceased. Most suffer silently. By themselves. Somewhere along the way, we need to focus on those left behind in our cities whose very character and sense of future have been altered by what they’ve experienced on the streets. -- NYT: "The Price of Public Violence"

Pedro Noguera

 “You could almost predict that whatever groups have the highest poverty rates will have the lowest achievement rates. The fact is when you look at these chronically under-performing schools, who are they serving? The poorest kids who are disproportionately African-American.” -- Chicago Sun-Times

 Economist Richard Wolff

A whole generation of young people is learning that in order to get the education, without which the American dream is not possible, you have to borrow so much money that your whole situation is put in a terrible vice. -- BillMoyers.Com

Anthony Cody

 It is perfectly legal for billionaires to, in effect, buy up local school board races. And it is perfectly legal for them to hire "journalists" to write stories largely sympathetic to their point of view. Fortunately, it is also still legal for skeptics to point out all of the above, and suggest the voters of Los Angeles might want to think twice before they vote. -- Yes, Virginia, There Really IS a Billionaire Boys Club