11.   Judges, police, prosecutors and public defenders frequently are at odds, but there is broad consensus among them that juvenile justice is failing children.

12.   Prosecutors call it a major step forward for a city often criticized for failing the children who are abused under its watch.

13.   Some parents, myself included, also believe it is not right to pass or fail a child simply on the basis of one standardized test.

14.   Some, like the Shaws, say the public school system is failing African-American children, who often end up at the bottom of achievement assessments.

15.   The argument is that the current welfare system has failed poor children.

16.   There are plenty of anecdotes to support a claim that schools fail immigrant children or an equally persuasive claim that schools serve them well.

17.   They do not believe that public schools are failing our children.

18.   We are failing the children of New York City today.

19.   We are failing our children miserably.

20.   These schools are failing our children, and they must be fixed, and they must be fixed now.