Forty-nine years ago, a great man with an audacious dream
boldly declared his sentiments: He spoke for unity and not division; peace, not
war; love, not hate; content of character, not color of skin. He spoke of
brotherhood of men, not destruction of fools.
Forty-nine years later, I speak of my own dream. It, too,
is a dream deeply rooted in the American Dream. I have a dream that one day, students
will be tested not on the information they memorized, but on the relationships
they built, the projects they made. I have a dream that students will be
educated holistically, not segmentally. I have a dream that teachers will
be paid what they are worth, and not with the leftovers of the state. I have a
dream that education will be a “discovery process,” not an “employment
process.” I have a dream that students will no longer graduate with a question over
their heads, but with an exclamation over their hearts; that every student will
clearly know Who they are, How they are, Why they are, and What they are to do,
upon graduation.
Every human being was created with a purpose, and every
human being is significant. I have a dream that one day, black men and white
men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestant and Catholics will know that purpose, and
discover the great joy of education - of drawing out – that purpose instilled
in childbirth.
