Move Past Ferguson, Focus on Solutions

Michael Brown is dead. He was shot by police officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Mo., months ago. Based on the evidence available to the grand jury, which I have reviewed in detail, it appears pretty clear that the grand jury’s decision not to indict was correct.

The physical evidence is particularly persuasive. Wilson did what any police officer would have done under the circumstances. If he had not killed Brown, in all likelihood it would be Wilson who would be dead.

That does not change the fact that this is a tragedy. It does not change the fact that a young man with plans for the future and his whole life ahead of him is dead. Neither does it answer any of the real questions. Why was Michael Brown out on the street, stealing from a convenience store, assaulting a storeowner and careening into a deadly encounter with the police?

What was it in his life and in the world around him that drove him to his death?

Maybe most important of all, what is it that we as a nation, as communities, as parents, as citizens are doing or not doing that has lead to a situation in which far too many other young men on our nation’s streets are lost, angry and headed for disaster?

Michael Brown is gone. There are lots of others like him who are not gone but are steering their own courses for destruction right now.

These are urgent questions, and they demand urgent answers. We do not have time for bickering. We do not have time for finger pointing. We do not have time for hysterical debates on television focused far more on theater and ratings than on illumination and finding solutions.

Our educational system is a disaster. We are the laughing stock of the developed world. Every year we churn out millions of high school graduates who cannot begin to compete for meaningful work in the world economy today. Huge numbers of other kids are simply dumped from the system along the way and never even receive diplomas.

We do not have time for endless debate, ranting, raving and the scoring of political points. We can scream all day and night about the role of unions, political correctness, social agendas and the like. None of it is helping the kids whom we are failing every day.

Read the rest here..