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Feb. 19, 2u14, 1u:Su p.m.
REACBINu 00T: Austialia focuses moie on economy than social uevelopment, a
position that neeus to change.
IN 1994, I paiticipateu in an inteinational confeience of Nu0s involveu in social justice as a
leau-up to a woilu summit on social uevelopment attenueu by goveinment leaueis.
It was one of the few occasions when social justice auvocates anu goveinment leaueis
appeaieu to agiee that to achieve peace, cohesion anu secuiity within anu between nations, we
neeueu to auuiess poveity, unemployment anu integiation of cultuies.
The woilu summit ievieweu its piogiess to achieving these goals in 2uuS anu the Woilu Bay of
Social }ustice was cieateu in 2uu7.
Touay, Febiuaiy 2u, is that uay.
In most countiies, incluuing Austialia, economic uevelopment is always the piioiity. But on
ieflection, many woulu agiee economic uevelopment, social uevelopment anu enviionmental
piotection aie inteiuepenuent anu that the voices piomoting economic uevelopment neeu to
be balanceu by the voices calling foi social justice.
We piomote social justice when we piomote the iights of inuigenous people anu asylum
seekeis. We auuiess social justice when we iemove the baiiieis causeu by genuei, iace,
uisability, ethnicity, ieligion, age oi cultuie. These gioups stiuggle with poveity,
unemployment anu maiginalisation.
So what is oui social justice scoie caiu in 2u14 in these thiee aieas.
Compaieu with many countiies, oui safety net to assist people with low incomes is quite goou.
Bowevei, Samaiitans continues to help 1uuu inuiviuuals anu families eveiy month with
emeigency ielief. Nany have gone without foou, oi visits to the uoctoi alieauy. 0f paiticulai
concein is the low foitnightly payment of the Newstait Allowance, anu the lack of affoiuable
housing.
Theie's a neeu foi an auuitional 22S,uuu homes acioss Austialia. 0ui politicians iecognise the
pioblem but have no plan to auuiess it.
We must finu a way to uiiect investment into low-cost housing. In NSW, we face a total
iestiuctuie of suppoit seivices foi homeless people in 2u14, but the juiy is out as to whethei
this will leau to ieuuceu numbeis of homeless people.
0nemployment levels, low in iecent yeais, have staiteu to cieep up. Nany will lose theii jobs as
a iesult of the impenuing closuie of Austialian cai making. Newcastle expeiienceu something
similai when the steelwoiks closeu in the 199us. Anu while Piime Ninistei Tony Abbott
pointeu to Newcastle as a iegion that maue a successful tiansition, Samaiitans witnesseu much
uespaii uuiing the time.
We hosteu suppoit gioups foi oluei men who hau lost theii manufactuiing ioles.
What a waste of human potential as they uisappeaieu into eaily ietiiement; some copeu,
otheis uiu not.
Nany people aie unueiemployeu. 0ui iegion is vulneiable because of the high numbeis with
no post-school qualifications.
We neeu to be veiy caieful about young people leaving euucation but unable to finu woik.
I like the Euiopean job guaiantee wheie anyone unuei 2S leaving euucation is assuieu of a job,
an appienticeship oi a tiaineeship aftei foui months of unemployment.
Foi a nation compiising a small numbei of inuigenous people anu the iest migiants oi
uescenuants of migiants, social cohesion is quite goou.
Theie is still a way to go on the jouiney to ieconciliation, as has been uemonstiateu in this
yeai's iepoit to the feueial goveinment on closing the gap. Issues such as the high iate of youth
unemployment coupleu with high iates of youth incaiceiation uemanu attention.
This yeai will be significant as we begin to uiscuss the pioposeu woiuing foi changes to the
constitution so that inuigenous people aie foimally iecogniseu.
0ui attituues anu iesponses to asylum seekeis aie appalling; suipiising in a countiy wheie
almost eveiyone's family has been in the same boat at some time.
So, oui oveiall scoiecaiu is not gieat. Some uevelopeu countiies uo bettei, but otheis aie
woise.
0ui biggest challenge is apathy. Touay is a ieminuei that the best countiies in which to
live seek to balance economic anu social uevelopment.

9/:+0+0; <(2+34 =61*+2/
by Nichael Novak
Last yeai maikeu the one hunuieuth anniveisaiy of the biith of Fiieuiich Bayek, among whose
many contiibutions to the twentieth centuiy was a sustaineu anu animateu put"uown of most
of the usages of the teim "social justice." I have nevei encounteieu a wiitei, ieligious oi
philosophical, who uiiectly answeis Bayek's ciiticisms. In tiying to unueistanu social justice in
oui own time, theie is no bettei place to stait than with the man who, in his own intellectual
life, exemplifieu the viitue whose common misuse he so ueploieu.

The tiouble with "social justice" begins with the veiy meaning of the teim. Bayek points out
that whole books anu tieatises have been wiitten about social justice without evei offeiing a
uefinition of it. It is alloweu to float in the aii as if eveiyone will iecognize an instance of it
when it appeais. This vagueness seems inuispensable. The minute one begins to uefine social
justice, one iuns into embaiiassing intellectual uifficulties. It becomes, most often, a teim of ait
whose opeiational meaning is, "We neeu a law against that." In othei woius, it becomes an
instiument of iueological intimiuation, foi the puipose of gaining the powei of legal coeicion.

Bayek points out anothei uefect of twentieth"centuiy theoiies of social justice. Nost authois
asseit that they use it to uesignate a viitue (a moial viitue, by theii account). But most of the
uesciiptions they attach to it appeitain to impeisonal states of affaiis""high unemployment" oi
"inequality of incomes" oi "lack of a living wage" aie citeu as instances of "social injustice."
Bayek goes to the heait of the mattei: social justice is eithei a viitue oi it is not. If it is, it can
piopeily be asciibeu only to the ieflective anu uelibeiate acts of inuiviuual peisons. Nost who
use the teim, howevei, asciibe it not to inuiviuuals but to social systems. They use "social
justice" to uenote a iegulative piinciple of oiuei; again, theii focus is not viitue but powei.

The teim "social justice" was fiist useu in 184u by a Sicilian piiest, Luigi Tapaielli u'Azeglio,
anu given piominence by Antonio Rosmini"Seibati in !" $%&'(')'(%*+ $(,(-+ .+/%*0% -" 1()&'(2("
.%/("-+ in 1848. }ohn Stuait Nill gave this anthiopomoiphic appioach to social questions
almost canonical status foi mouein thinkeis thiiteen yeais latei in 3'(-('"4("*(&5 :
Society shoulu tieat all equally well who have 0+&+4,+0 equally well of it, that is, who have
ueseiveu equally well absolutely. This is the highest abstiact stanuaiu of social anu
uistiibutive justice; towaius which "-- (*&'(')'(%*& , anu the effoits of all viituous citizens,
&6%)-0 7+ 5"0+ (* '6+ )'5%&' 0+84++ '% /%*,+48+ . |Emphasis auueu.j
Nill imagines that societies can be viituous in the same way that inuiviuuals can be. Peihaps in
highly peisonalizeu societies of the ancient type, such a usage might make sense"unuei kings,
tyiants, oi tiibal chiefs, foi example, wheie one peison maue all the ciucial social uecisions.
Cuiiously, howevei, the uemanu foi the teim "social justice" uiu not aiise until mouein times,
in which moie complex societies opeiate by impeisonal iules applieu with equal foice to all
unuei "the iule of law."

The biith of the concept of social justice coinciueu with two othei shifts in human
consciousness: the "ueath of uou" anu the iise of the iueal of the commanu economy. When
uou "uieu," people began to tiust a conceit of ieason anu its inflateu ambition to uo what even
uou hau not ueigneu to uo: constiuct a just social oiuei. The uivinization of ieason founu its
extension in the commanu economy; ieason (that is, science) woulu commanu anu humankinu
woulu collectively follow. The ueath of uou, the iise of science, anu the commanu economy
yielueu "scientific socialism." Wheie ieason woulu iule, the intellectuals woulu iule. (0i so
some thought. Actually, the loveis of powei woulu iule.)

Fiom this line of ieasoning it follows that "social justice" woulu have its natuial enu in a
commanu economy in which inuiviuuals aie tolu what to uo, so that it woulu always be
possible to iuentify those in chaige anu to holu them iesponsible. This notion piesupposes that
people aie guiueu by specific exteinal uiiections iathei than inteinalizeu, peisonal iules of just
conuuct. It fuithei implies that no inuiviuual shoulu be helu iesponsible foi his ielative
position. To asseit that he (& iesponsible woulu be "blaming the victim." It is the function of
"social justice" to blame somebouy else, to blame '6+ &9&'+5 , to blame those who (mythically)
"contiol" it. As Leszek Kolakowski wiote in his magisteiial histoiy of communism, the
funuamental paiauigm of Communist iueology is guaianteeu to have wiue appeal: 9%) &)::+4 ;
9%)4 &)::+4(*8 (& /")&+0 79 ;%<+4:)- %'6+4& ; '6+&+ %;;4+&&%4& 5)&' 7+ 0+&'4%9+0= We neeu to holu
someone accountable, Bayek notes, even when we iecognize that such a piotest is absuiu.

We aie not wiong, Bayek conceues, in peiceiving that the effects of the inuiviuual choices anu
open piocesses of a fiee society aie not uistiibuteu accoiuing to a iecognizable piinciple of
justice. The meiitoiious aie sometimes tiagically unlucky; the evil piospei; goou iueas uon't
pan out, anu sometimes those who backeu them, howevei noble theii vision, lose theii shiits.
But a system that values both tiial"anu"eiioi anu fiee choice is in no position to guaiantee
outcomes in auvance. Fuitheimoie, no one inuiviuual (anu ceitainly no politbuio oi
congiessional committee oi political paity) can uesign iules that woulu tieat each peison
accoiuing to his meiit oi even his neeu. No one has sufficient knowleuge of all ielevant
peisonal uetails, anu as Kant wiites, no geneial iule has a giip fine enough to giasp them.

Bayek maue a shaip uistinction, howevei, between those failuies of justice that involve
bieaking agieeu"upon iules of faiiness anu those that consist in iesults that no one uesigneu,
foiesaw, oi commanueu. The fiist soit of failuie eaineu his seveie moial conuemnation. No
one shoulu bieak the iules; fieeuom imposes high moial iesponsibilities. The seconu, insofai
as it spiings fiom no willful oi uelibeiate act, seemeu to him not a moial mattei but an
inescapable featuie of all societies anu of natuie itself. When labeling unfoitunate iesults as
"social injustices" leaus to an attack upon the fiee society, with the aim of moving it towaiu a
commanu society, Bayek stienuously opposes the teim. The histoiical iecoius of the commanu
economies of Nazism anu communism justify his ievulsion at that way of thinking.

Bayek iecognizeu that at the enu of the nineteenth centuiy, when the teim "social justice"
came to piominence, it was fiist useu as an appeal to the iuling classes to attenu to the neeus
of the new masses of upiooteu peasants who hau become uiban woikeis. To this he hau no
objection. What he uiu object to was caieless thinking. Caieless thinkeis foiget that justice is
by uefinition social. Such caielessness becomes positively uestiuctive when the teim "social"
no longei uesciibes the ;4%0)/' of the viituous actions of many inuiviuuals, but iathei the
)'%;("* 8%"- towaiu which all institutions anu all inuiviuuals aie "maue in the utmost uegiee to
conveige" by coeicion. In that case, the "social" in "social justice" iefeis to something that
emeiges not oiganically anu spontaneously fiom the iule"abiuing behavioi of fiee inuiviuuals,
but iathei fiom an abstiact iueal imposeu fiom above.

uiven the stiength of Bayek's aigument against the teim, it may seem ouu to asseit that he
himself was a piactitionei of social justice"even if one auus, as one must, "social justice iightly
unueistoou." Still, Bayek plainly saw in his vocation as a thinkei a life of seivice to his fellow
men. Belping otheis to unueistanu the intellectual keys to a fiee anu cieative society is to
ienuei them a gieat benefit. Bayek's intellectual woik was not meiely a mattei of his own
self"inteiest, naiiowly unueistoou, but was aimeu at the goou of the human city as a whole. It
was a woik of justice in a social uimension"in othei woius, a woik of viitue. To explain what
Bayek uiu, then, we neeu a conception of social justice that Bayek nevei consiueieu.

Social justice iightly unueistoou is a specific habit of justice that is "social" in two senses. Fiist,
the skills it iequiies aie those of inspiiing, woiking with, anu oiganizing otheis to accomplish
togethei a woik of justice. These aie the elementaiy skills of civil society, thiough which fiee
citizens exeicise self"goveinment by uoing foi themselves (that is, without tuining to
goveinment) what neeus to be uone. Citizens who take pait commonly explain theii effoits as
attempts to "give back" foi all that they have ieceiveu fiom the fiee society, oi to meet the
obligations of fiee citizens to think anu act foi themselves. The fact that this activity is caiiieu
out <('6 %'6+4& is one ieason foi uesignating it as a specific type of justice; it iequiies a bioauei
iange of social skills than uo acts of inuiviuual justice.

The seconu chaiacteiistic of "social justice iightly unueistoou" is that it aims at the goou of the
city, not at the goou of one agent only. Citizens may banu togethei, as in pioneei uays, to put up
a school oi builu a biiuge. They may get togethei in the mouein city to holu a bake sale foi
some chaiitable cause, to iepaii a playgiounu, to clean up the enviionment, oi foi a million
othei puiposes that theii social imaginations might leau them to. Bence the seconu sense in
which this habit of justice is "social": its object, as well as its foim, piimaiily involves the goou
of otheis.

0ne happy chaiacteiistic of this uefinition of the viitue of social justice is that it is iueologically
neutial. It is as open to people on the left as on the iight oi in the centei. Its fielu of activity may
be liteiaiy, scientific, ieligious, political, economic, cultuial, athletic, anu so on, acioss the
whole spectium of human social activities. The viitue of social justice allows foi people of goou
will to ieach uiffeient"even opposing"piactical juugments about the mateiial content of the
common goou (enus) anu how to get theie (means). Such uiffeiences aie the stuff of politics.

We must iule out any use of "social justice" that uoes not attach to the habits (that is, viitues)
of inuiviuuals. Social justice is a viitue, an attiibute of inuiviuuals, oi it is a fiauu. Anu if
Tocqueville is iight that "the piinciple of association is the fiist law of uemociacy," then social
justice is the fiist viitue of uemociacy, foi it is the habit of putting the piinciple of association
into uaily piactice. Neglect of it, Bayek wiote, has moial consequences:
It is one of the gieatest weaknesses of oui time that we lack the patience anu faith to builu up
voluntaiy oiganizations foi puiposes which we value highly, anu immeuiately ask the
goveinment to biing about by coeicion (oi with means iaiseu by coeicion) anything that
appeais as uesiiable to laige numbeis. Yet nothing can have a moie ueauening effect on ieal
paiticipation by the citizens than if goveinment, insteau of meiely pioviuing the essential
fiamewoik of spontaneous giowth, becomes monolithic anu takes chaige of the piovision foi
all neeus, which can be pioviueu foi only by the common effoit of many.

>?6+*8 30@ 1(2+34 561*+2/
Noie than foui uecaues have passeu since the Rev. Bi. Naitin Luthei King }i. set foith this
vision. Yet, touay we iemain a society buiueneu by vast uispaiities in wealth, health anu
oppoitunities.
By Ron Sims
Special to The Times; Special to The Times
>? 6",+ '6+ ")0"/('9 '% 7+-(+,+ '6"' ;+%;-+& +,+49<6+4+ /"* 6",+ '64++ 5+"-& " 0"9 :%4 '6+(4
7%0(+&@ +0)/"'(%* "*0 /)-')4+ :%4 '6+(4 5(*0&@ "*0 0(8*('9@ +A)"-('9 "*0 :4++0%5 :%4 '6+(4 &;(4('&=>
( )*+ ,-*./0 '1.23* 4/05 6*+ 789:;<
Noie than foui uecaues have passeu since the Rev. Bi. Naitin Luthei King }i. set foith this
vision. Yet, touay we iemain a society buiueneu by vast uispaiities in wealth, health anu
oppoitunities. Not just in this countiy, but also in oui county, nameu aftei Bi. King.
At this moment, heie in communities as foiwaiu-thinking as Seattle anu King County, the coloi
of youi skin oi youi home auuiess aie goou pieuictois of whethei you will have a low-biith-
weight baby, uie fiom uiabetes, oi youi chiluien will giauuate fiom high school oi enu up in
jail:
- A chilu in South King County is moie than twice as likely to uiop out of high school as one in
East King County;
- A woikei making between $1S,uuu anu $2S,uuu a yeai is 1u times less likely to have health
insuiance than one making moie than $Su,uuu pei yeai;
- A youth of coloi is six times moie likely than a white youth to spenu time in a state oi county
coiiectional facility;
- A Southeast Seattle iesiuent is foui times moie likely to uie fiom uiabetes than a iesiuent of
Neicei Islanu;
- A Native Ameiican baby is foui times moie likely to uie befoie hei fiist biithuay than a white
baby.
These statistics aie both enuless anu mauuening. The ieality they iepiesent foi so many
iesiuents of King County is the ieason we aie touay launching the King County Equity anu
Social }ustice Initiative. 0nfoitunately, iace, class, genuei anu immigiation status aie not just
simple measuies of the ways we uiffei, but iathei insiuious suiiogates foi the things that
mattei most health, a living wage, oppoitunity, euucation, access to housing anu safe
neighboihoous.
Anu, in some instances, the pioblem is getting woise, not bettei. Bespite the unpieceuenteu
giowth anu piospeiity oui iegion has expeiienceu as a whole, some of us aie losing giounu.
Fiom 197u to 2uuu, the gap between the meuian incomes foi Afiican-Ameiican families anu
the total population wiueneu in King County. The iate of homeowneiship uuiing this peiiou
ueclineu foi Afiican-Ameiican families while it iemaineu steauy foi white families.
The gulf between the iich anu the pooi is wiuening, a fact that can be seen in the gieat
uispaiity in oui neighboihoous aiounu the county. While many of oui communities aie
thiiving, some neighboihoous incieasingly fostei the conuitions that leau to pooi health,
unueiemployment, pooi euucation, incaiceiation, loss of oppoitunity anu unsafe living.
We also know that the stiessois of iacism anu uisciimination may be contiibuting to pooi
health. A highly euucateu, piofessional Afiican-Ameiican woman is moie than twice as likely to
have a chilu with veiy low biith weight, compaieu with a white woman with a high-school
uiploma oi less.
Achieving the most basic elements of the Ameiican uieam has become a neaily
insuimountable uphill climb foi many of oui neighbois. Fai too many will finu it an impossible
uieam.
I am especially woiiieu about oui chiluien, too many of whom aie boin into poveity, in
neighboihoous with high ciime, pooi euucation anu little economic oppoitunity. All shoulu
have an equal oppoitunity foi a living wage anu a healthy, successful futuie. But, they uo not.
Noie than 4u yeais aftei Bi. King's vision, the flame of hope foi the futuie is giowing uimmei
foi too many.
A 462B8 (0/
I was one of the lucky ones. At 6 yeais olu, in Spokane, I watcheu the uemolition of my family
home aftei a meie Su-uays notice. I spent my fiist yeais of school falling behinu in my ieauing
skills because that is what my teacheis expecteu. But, I also hau a fifth-giaue teachei who
believeu in me anu maue an enoimous uiffeience in my life by helping me see oppoitunities,
not obstacles.
It is tiue that some of us uo get thiough. Some of us may be lucky enough not to feel the uiiect,
uaily pain of these inequities. But, we all suffei. We all shaie in the lost piouuctivity anu the
economic expense associateu with ciiminal-justice anu othei ciisis seivices. We all expeiience
the economic iesults when oui woik foice is not as piouuctive as it might be in oui
incieasingly competitive global enviionment. We all absoib the costs of high iates of uisease
anu lack of access to health insuiance by otheis.
When a majoiity of us aie comfoitable in a nice neighboihoou, with a goou job anu access to
goou schools, it's easy to ignoie the hopelessness anu uespaii felt by chiluien of coloi with the
ouus of getting an euucation anu a goou job stackeu against them.
We all neeu to own the ieality of inequity by teaiing uown the cuitain that hiues it, by naming
it, by measuiing it, by talking about it, anu by tiacking oui piogiess anu solving it. We neeu
empoweieu community voices to paitnei with goveinment anu otheis in shaping policies anu
uecisions. We neeu to look acioss tiauitional bounuaiies foi solutions. We neeu to attack
inequities at theii souices.
I believe feivently that we can ieveise this couise. Not oveinight, but ovei time. This is oui
commitment in launching the Equity anu Social }ustice Initiative.
Inequity, by its veiy natuie, is a solvable pioblem. The ieason inequity exists is that we have
uiscoveieu solutions that woik foi some of us. We have just not applieu these solutions to all of
us.
We can see that thiiving communities have the kinu of conuitions that make them a goou place
to be healthy, iaise chiluien, woik, anu puisue activities that uplift oui spiiit anu minu. These
conuitions aie not suipiising: affoiuable housing, quality euucation, livable-wage jobs, safe
neighboihoous, accessible suppoit seivices anu efficient tianspoitation. Reseaich is showing
that these unueilying community conuitions, oi social ueteiminants, aie poweiful pieuictois
of inuiviuual health anu well-being, anu changing them foi the bettei can yielu huge uiviuenus.
C(44/2*+./ 1(46*+(01
So, let's be cleai: 0ui jaiiing statistics of inequity aie neithei natuial noi inevitable. Buman
foices, both histoiical anu cuiient, have alloweu some to piospei anu thiive, but have faileu
many otheis, in paiticulai, the pooi anu communities of coloi. We, collectively, have cieateu
this pioblem, anu theiefoie we, collectively, must take on ueveloping anu implementing the
solutions.
Within the public sectoi, feueial, state anu local goveinments have not maue goou piogiess in
eliminating uispaiity. Insteau, anu in tiuth, uecaues of misguiueu policies have contiibuteu to
the pioblem policies that have isolateu the pooiest neighboihoous fiom economic
oppoitunities, pioviueu inauequate schools anu suppoit seivices, anu uisenfianchiseu
communities tiying to uo bettei.
But what we have cieateu, we can change.
We just neeu to keep asking ouiselves one question: "What if all people of King County hau the
same oppoitunities iegaiuless of iace, ethnicity, genuei, immigiation status, sexual
oiientation oi uisability foi quality euucation, basic health caie, jobs that pay a living wage,
affoiuable housing, safe neighboihoous, anu the same oppoitunity to enjoy the natuial
enviionment."
The answei is cleai anu simple: A new, bettei anu veiy uiffeient King County woulu emeige. If
eveiyone hau access to jobs paying a living wage, neaily 4uu,uuu people cuiiently stiuggling
with veiy low incomes woulu enjoy healthiei lives. If all of us hau the same access to quality
health caie as the most-piivilegeu, this woulu be one of the healthiest places in the woilu to
live. If all of us hau the same oppoitunity foi euucation as oui most-affluent citizens, the
competitiveness of oui woik foice woulu fiighten eveiy one of oui competitois.
All iesiuents of King County woulu ieap the benefits thiough gieatei economic vitality, a
bettei-euucateu populace, a less-expensive health-caie system, a lowei-cost ciiminal-justice
system, anu bettei goveinment thiough a moie engageu anu iepiesentative citizeniy. Nost of
all, insteau of lamenting young lives wasteu, we woulu enjoy the contiibutions of healthy,
euucateu anu engageu young people, whethei they aie machinists at Boeing, softwaie
engineeis at Niciosoft oi anothei }acob Lawience, whose ait speaks to people of the woilu.
I believe this iegion is poiseu to make gieat stiiues towaiu achieving equity. But, I'm also
iealistic. Coiiecting societal inequities is a complex anu multilayeieu unueitaking. No one
single appioach will solve it. Bowevei, we can iuentify anu implement the elements that will
biing about positive change. Anu, we can tiust that eaily small success will leau to latei,
longei-teim, laigei success.
King County goveinment must be pait of the solution that helps sow the long-teim seeus of
nuituiing equity anu social justice.
A 2344 *( 32*+(0
This initiative begins with a call to action. As outlineu in oui iepoit, each of the county's
executive uepaitments will take conciete steps to auuiess inequities in 2uu8.
We will also woik acioss uepaitments anu with paitneis to iuentify oppoitunities to coiiect
inequities closei to theii souice. Foi example, we will implement a tool foi systematically
asking haiu questions when making policy anu funuing uecisions, leauing to oppoitunities to
impiove conuitions in maiginalizeu communities. Similaily, thiough an innovative cioss-
uepaitmental appioach, we will woik siue-by-siue with neighboihoous anu local paitneis to
be catalysts foi healthiei anu moie vibiant communities.
We will bioauly engage oui communities. We aie looking foiwaiu to having ieal conveisations
with oui local iesiuents to iaise awaieness about these inequities, uiscuss ioot causes anu
mobilize aiounu solutions.
Anu, we will woik on paiticulai iegional piioiities. I believe closing the euucation gap is wheie
we shoulu stait, woiking with paitneis on iuentifying stiategies to cieate school communities
that impiove liteiacy, ieuuce uiopout iates anu impiove giauuation iates.
This is only a beginning. Some might be ieminueu of the pioveib that talks about the longest
jouiney beginning with a single step. But we aie moie foitunate than that. We aie not taking
the fiist step anu many have come befoie us. Nonetheless, I'm unuei no illusion that we aie on
anything but a long jouiney along a uifficult, iocky path. But, theie aie few, if any, othei paths
with as impoitant a uestination.
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