Yesterday, demonstrations and violent protests erupted in Baltimore. A young black man, Freddie Gray, died while in police custody. The protests began after his funeral. Quoting Martin Luther King, Jr., the Jaded Educator says: “A riot is the language of the unheard.”

She connects the hopelessness of the young people who are rioting to her own role as a teacher:

Point blank, we have not given these students anything of value. We have not given them a reason to think twice about throwing that rock and landing them in a heap of trouble. We have robbed them of what is within their rights which is an equal opportunity for education.

The question can be asked, are schools supposed to fix everything? Of course not. As an educators, we are already inundated with a myriad of responsibilities to attend to. However, we are the staple community institution, that possesses the power…