HATS OFF TO STUDENT JOURNALISTS

Student journalists at Lexington Kentucky’s Paul Laurence Dunbar High School should be proud of themselves for their efforts over the last week in reporting on an effort to shut them out of an important public meeting.  I hope school administrators and parents are proud as well.

The students are part of the PLD Lamplighter student newspaper.  Members of the editorial board were recently denied entry to a roundtable discussion on education hosted by Governor Matt Bevin featuring Education Secretary Betsy DeVos.  Here’s the Lamplighter’s report on the incident.  I won’t steal the students’ thunder, but simply urge you to read it.  And then ask how it is that journalists got shut out of a meeting featuring two public officials at a taxpayer funding institution discussing a matter of intense public interest?

I know that in our divided nation, the Lamplighter article and my post may very well get spun as a political rant.  But I suggest it not be viewed that way at all.  Let’s simply take a minute to applaud the efforts of some dedicated students, first in chasing a story and second in responding in a thoughtful manner using the event as a teachable moment for all of us.  That should be an encouraging development regardless of your politics.