I happened upon a citizenship ceremony in San Francisco’s Nob Hill Masonic Auditorium. It was 2005 and 1445 new citizens were to be sworn in. I watched along with families and friends and crying babies and balloons and flowers and flash cameras.
“This is the country where you can achieve anything that you set out to do,” the presiding official told us.
When we stood to sing the national anthem, I choked up. More than 50 years since I landed on these shores in Hoboken New Jersey, I am still so moved by coming to America.
About Miriam
Miriam Kurtzig Freedman, JD, MA—an expert in public education, focused on special education law— is a lawyer, author, speaker, consultant, and reformer.
For more than 35 years, Miriam worked with educators, parents, policy makers, and citizens to translate complex legalese into plain English and focus on good practices for children.
Now, she focuses her passion on reforming special education, with her new book, Special Education 2.0—Breaking Taboos to Build a NEW Education Law. Presentations include those at the AASA Conference, Orange County (CA), Boston College (MA), CADRE (OR), and the Fordham Institute (DC). Her writings have appeared in The Wall Street Journal, Education Week, Education Next, Hoover Digest, The University of Chicago Law Review on line, DianeRavitch.net, and The Atlantic Monthly on line.
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