- almost all of them were afraid of school. Teachers, barring a rare kind soul, terrified them. For some children, school was preferable only because home was worse. In neither place did they find true care. They carried guilt for no fault, and they all knew, even at that age, that nobody really understood them. - Why did the teacher hit me even after I said I was tired and could not finish homework - He needed someone who cared, who laughed with him, who never judged, who simply listened. - They were children of poverty, carrying the unfulfilled dreams of working-class parents who lacked the money, exposure, or resources to take them for aptitude tests, to nurture their peculiar gifts, to shield them from abuse, depression, disillusion. - We must make schools and education more inclusive, non-elitist, accommodating, supportive, and egalitarian. ---- (Jose, n.d.)