Valedictorian allowed to speak after all

Officials at the Accelerated School let Aurora Ponce speak at Saturday's graduation ceremony after first barring her over a protest she took part in. Two hours of negotiations on Friday left the matter unresolved, but minutes before the ceremony the school gave its approval for the valedictorian to deliver her speech, says the Times.

First person: Visiting blogger Ellen Alperstein remembers when she too was barred from giving the speech at graduation.