The atmosphere will probably be more like a gigantic fair or church picnic than the usual Washington rally. AFT will be there, along with representatives from more than 3,000 other sponsoring organizations that cut across the political spectrum. But numbers are not the point. The point is to focus national attention on America's children. It may seem odd that we need a national rally to point out that America's children are in trouble.
Most people are aware that our youngest citizens are also our poorest and most threatened.
They have seen figures showing, for example, that 24 percent of U.S. children under six are living in poverty and about a quarter of all babies are born to unmarried women. And there is more. But the rally testifies to the fact that Americans have not yet grasped the seriousness of children's problems. For all our talk about family values, we have yet to adopt policies that are supportive of children. In other words, we consider helping children a matter of choice or good will.