When I was 12 years-old, my best friend’s Dad, with my parents’ permission, took me and his son to pay our last respects to President Lyndon B. Johnson. I was raised just outside of Austin , and on January 24 and 25, 1973, President Johnson’s body was lying in state at the LBJ Library on the University of Texas campus. I will never forget the scene, the line snaking around the building, the crowd growing reverent as we entered, the silence, the flags, the coffin, the honor guard. I remember thinking then that I should remember everything I saw. I made numerous mental notes, most of which I have long sense misplaced somewhere in my head, but I remember going. I remember seeing. I remember taking part. And at twelve, for the first times in my life, I knew that I was witnessing history and, in fact, participating in it.

I had permission from my parents, but I still missed class, a whole day of class. Interestingly though, my teachers were not upset that I ditched. They didn’t threaten me or punish me. In fact, one of them asked me to relay to the class what I’d seen and heard.

Of all my experiences in all my years, that one missed day of school has to rank as one of the most powerful learning experiences of my life.

So imagine my surprise when I read the statement of Ennis School superintendent, Mike Harper, who decided to suspend student participants in the immigration bill protests this past week, even though some of the protestors had permission from their parents to take part. In his statement, Harper said, "One of the greatest gifts we give to immigrants and their families is a free public education, and it shows extraordinarily poor judgment for those who have received that gift to walk out on it."

To begin with, free public education is not a gift in Texas it is a constitutional right. And it is not given to the children of immigrants any more or less than it is given to the children of natural born US citizens. To claim otherwise, unnecessarily and erroneously sets up an us versus them mentality, the very mentality that led to this Draconian bill in the first place.

And it is presumptuous of the superintendent to conclude that just by missing school the students were ungrateful for their education. It may be they chose to participate in the walkout and the protest precisely because of their education.

The entire thrust of education is to prepare good citizens for contribution to our society. What better evidence of education’s success could there be than to produce students who care, students who are informed, students who want to make a difference? By walking out of school for one day in order to register their displeasure with a proposed state action, these students were not showing ingratitude for their education they were, arguably, honoring it. We should want our children to participate. We should want them to show initiative. We should want them to stand up for what they believe in.

And who says that missing school is never educational? I dare say these students have learned more about civics and the workings of participatory Democracy by this one experience than they ever could have learned in a classroom. If nothing else, it has taught them they do have power, they can make a difference and, if they cannot be heard any other way, then our country’s proud tradition of civil (i.e. peaceful) disobedience is still a powerful option, even in these Patriot Act, civil rights subdued times.

In this instance, the superintendent is within his authority to punish these students for their disobedience. But should he? It is not the choice I would have made, especially as to those students who obtained parental permission, but maybe that’s why I’m not a superintendent.

Under the Superintendent’s view, however, my parents’ choice of allowing me, at age 12, to view history would have been a slap in the face of education, a gross display of ingratitude, and an action deserving punishment. Ridiculous, right? I mean, what could be more educational than seeing history in the making?

And if viewing history can justify a day away from school, then making history should all the more.

And make no mistake, the students made history. The final ripples from the splash they created may not be fully known for some time, either by them or by the rest of us. For the first time in a long while, perhaps since Caesar Chavez, someone stood up and fought back on behalf of immigrants and their families. And in North Texas , it was the students who lead the way.

That alone is historical. And now that our students know they have a voice, perhaps they will start using it to influence their future.

Ed Ishmael is a Dallas Title Attorney. He can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

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