When and where did we learn to stop caring about rodent feces in a child's classroom? This essay is a lamentation, delivered as opening remarks at a gathering of educators concerned about access to a rich and relevant curriculum for all children. The reality of public education in the growing portion of the United States that is not wealthy, is of unmet needs at every level. A political economy of divestment, coupled with an ideology that promotes a sense of both futility and inevitability, allows our schools to exist without teaching. This piece calls citizens back to public schools. Our schools are the last place where a sense of public entitlement still holds moral force, and activism centered in schools is a starting place for reclaiming the notion of a collective and mutual obligation of care. (Contains 11 notes.)