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As I write this morning, it looks like the U.S. Government is about to be reopened for business. I'm not going to get into the politics of all that but for the past several days I have thought a lot about how immigration continues to make America great. Immigration is America and America is immigration. When my ancestors came from Scotland, Ireland, England and Germany (to name some of the known McMutt in me) they were not "merit" candidates. If you think of all the millions of people who came to America either by necessity to leave their own country or people of color forcibly taken from their homelands to become slaves here in America, the great majority were not formally educated.
America in its vast melting pot has progressed over the past couple hundred years by steadily moving forward, providing public education to the all the waves of people who came here and continue to come today. As an American, I became the first college graduate from my mother's side of the family, at least in my Grandma Mary's memory. I worked my dream and became a school teacher for 35 years in San Diego.
K-12 education is one of our nation's cornerstones. It is the place where children can begin to dream and to create their own "American Dream." Today, I'm thinking about them, ALL the children in this country going to school, regardless of status. Giving a child options in their young life is the greatest gift you can ever give an individual. Options provide young people the path to realize their dreams and to strive towards that horizon. As adults, let's always strive to make our schools better and a top priority, and the dreamers will take care of our country, like they always have.
Note - Last night I caught the tail end of La La Land on cable. Emma Stone sings, Audition (The fools who dream) and it stirred my thinking. Here's a few quick songs I put together for the dreamer in us all.