Power of Ten Update
In This Issue:
1. Why I Care (Petition!)
2. Life is Not All Hard Work (Party!)
1) Why I Care
Our human family has been through a lot. Not so long ago we hadn’t figured out how to harness electricity. The smallest thing we knew of was the smallest thing you could see with your naked eye. No one knew how far away the sun or the stars were. Diseases were mysterious; there was no way of knowing anything as tiny as a microbe existed, or that it could kill you.
All of the knowledge and technology that we use and take for granted everyday was obtained through magnificent effort, by men and women who spent their lives increasing the library of human knowledge and achievement. They did this often in the most difficult of circumstances, overcoming war and oppression and ignorance.
This body of work has allowed us to travel, to communicate, and to fend off disease. The legacy belongs equally to all human beings. It is just as wrong to deny a child the light of knowledge as it is to deny a lifesaving medicine derived from that knowledge. One of the greatest contributions of science is the knowledge that we are all one family, linked by our 23 pairs of DNA.
This great storehouse of knowledge is an even more essential inheritance than any notarized will. Every one of us shares in the duty of executor of this greatest inheritance. This is why public education cannot be some line item on anyone’s balance sheet.
This is why ALL schools need to be safe, inviting, hospitable centers of learning and inquiry. This is why the state has a ethical duty, and in NY a constitutional obligation, to ensure that every child receives this inheritance, whether the child is in a public or non-public educational institution or in the home.
Not every child is receiving a quality education. The reason for this embarrassment is lack of political will. There are still too many people who don’t see all children as OUR children, and say “why should I pay for someone else’s child?”
There are even people who oppose education (but who hypocritically use all the technologies that are generated by it).
Malala was shot in the face for going to school. There is a group called Boko Haram in Nigeria whose name actually means “Western education is forbidden”. Here in NY the Grand Rabbi of the Kiryas Joel Satmar recently characterized subjects taught in public school as “disgusting”. He said he is glad that NY State has “turned a blind eye” to children in yeshivas who aren’t learning “general studies” (the subjects most people call English, Math, Science, and History).
There are many organizations advocating for better education. Malala survived the attempt on her life and has gone on to help educate many girls in her home country and around the world, including victims of Boko Haram. YAFFED is an organization in NY holding officials accountable for their duties under NY law.
Power of Ten has consistently advocated for the whole community to step up to our joint responsibility to the children enrolled in public education. This includes not only exposing the abuses of the East Ramapo School Board, but also supporting supplemental programs offered by organizations such as the Martin Luther King Center in Spring Valley.
Power of Ten has also asked readers to support Malala in her quest to provide education to every girl, and now to support YAFFED in its work to bring quality education to NY yeshivas. This is why I am making this personal appeal to you right now, to sign the YAFFED petition.
Please sign today: http://yaffed.nationbuilder.com/petition
2) Life is Not All Hard Work
It’s a fact. You have to take some time out to relax. Here is a chance to enjoy some great music, food, and company, and at the same time support supplemental education at the MLK Center!
It’s happening THIS SUNDAY, so get your tickets NOW: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/summer-sand-soul-a-day-party-with-a-purpose-tickets-26080370089