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"When you went downtown, did you see a hobo?" The tone was mocking with a giggle at the end. I cringed. Turning around, I saw one of my students: a young girl with freckles and a polka dot bow in her hair. She was a student who always had a smile to share, was the first to offer an extra pencil if anyone lacked and was always willing to help others. The callousness of her remark was out of character. I wondered if she was repeating something that someone else had said. Perhaps she just thought hobo was a funny word.

Schools have a responsibility to maintain a safe learning environment for all students—this seems on first examination a simple enough statement. It isn’t. Two words are key—“learning” and “all.” A school that is inclusive of all its students but unable to nurture learning has failed in its responsibility. An academically successful school that only supports its majority students has equally neglected its obligation.

As this Teaching Tolerance story points out, the poor represent the fastest-growing segment in our nation’s suburbs. They are immigrants who choose to locate there and formerly middle-class families who have been hit by

For students living in instability, a safe classroom becomes a second home.

The Civil Rights Act outlawed hiring discrimination, segregated public schools and public spaces and discriminatory voter registration policies, paving the way for future civil rights legislation.

Conversations about religious diversity can happen in the classroom. Start by making a safe space where folks can tell their stories and share their religious identities.

TT answers your toughest questions. This time, we discuss teaching controversial topics and having courageous conversations.

Teaching Tolerance managing editor Brian Willoughby remembers Rosa Parks and her radical legacy.

In 1920, Tennessee lawmaker Harry Burn followed his mother’s advice on a controversial vote—and changed voting rights history.