The Color of School Closures

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1. Caroline Grannan says:

   June 12, 2013 at 11:29 am

   The current practice of closing heavily African American schools is so reminiscent of the “urban renewal” that James Baldwin referred to as “Negro removal.” Here’s a good summary of how that practice wrecked a vibrant African American community in the Fillmore District here in San Francisco. It’s now decried as destructive and racist, yet we’re allowing big-city leadership to do the same destructive and racist thing to school communities. http://www.pbs.org/kqed/fillmore/program/

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   • Harlan Underhill says:

     June 12, 2013 at 8:52 pm

     DEMOCRAT “big city leadership.” Rahm is YOUR guy. Do you have no shame?

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     • carolinesf says:

       June 12, 2013 at 9:23 pm

       I pointed that out below, hours ago if not yesterday — this can’t be blamed on the Republicans.

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     • Dienne says:

       June 13, 2013 at 6:10 am

       Yeah, Rahm’s “our guy”. What do you think “your guy” (a Republican) would be doing differently?

       And FWIW, no, Rahm is not “my guy”. I didn’t vote for him and I begged everyone I knew not to vote for him. Miguel del Valle would have been a far superior choice.

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     • FLERP! says:

       June 13, 2013 at 7:34 am

       I thought you didn’t live in Chicago?

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2. Erin Tuttle says:

   June 12, 2013 at 11:43 am

   It follows the reformers like Gates plan all along. Remember this quote from Gates on CNN where he made it clear that he liked having city CEOs in charge of education decision-making and accountable for results. The only city missing from his quote in Philly.

   “You want to allow for experimentation. The cities where our foundation has put the most money is where there is a single person responsible. In New York, Chicago and Washington, DC, the mayor has the responsibility for the school system,” Gates said during a CNN appearance.

   This is also why the local school boards are under attack. He doesn’t want to have to mess with the people. In his mind, he’s transforming our system and we should be grateful. If it fails, it doesn’t matter. He and his will be able to walk away, pockets lined with our taxpayer dollars. Our children and communities, however, will be stuck with the consequences.

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3. Concerned Citizen says:

   June 12, 2013 at 11:59 am

   The report focuses on Chicago, New York, and Philadelphia, but my impression is that the same thing happened in Sacramento, where basketball player-turned charter school advocate (and Michelle Rhee’s husband) Kevin Johnson has presided over the closing of several majority African-American schools, including Sacramento High School in 2003. Statistical analysis of school closures in New Orleans and other places would probably reveal the same thing. How is this not a civil rights issue? Aren’t children of all ethnicities Constitutionally mandated to have equal access to education? Where’s the ACLU, NAACP etc? Have they been captured by money from Gates, Walton, Broad etc. too?

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4. Bob the Science Guy says:

   June 12, 2013 at 12:24 pm

   It’s the GOP war against the poor. It really is that simple sometimes.

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   • carolinesf says:

     June 12, 2013 at 12:56 pm

     A lot of Democrats doing it, though. We can’t be in denial.

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     • Ms D says:

       June 12, 2013 at 1:14 pm

       That’s so true. The Democrats are just as much to blame. I could wrong, but President Obama does NOT seem upset about the school closings in his beloved Chicago. Let’s don’t point fingers at the Republicans. Michelle Rhee is a Democrat. The mayor of Philadelphia is a Democrat. Arne Duncan is a Democrat. Rahm Emmanuel is a Democrat. See what I mean?

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     • liberalteacher says:

       June 12, 2013 at 8:38 pm

       Unfortunately it is the wealthy class that have cooped both political parties. All these men and women have one thing in common–creating an education system that will enhance personal profit. They want to milk wealth from a privatized school system. And once the milk is sucked dry by these vampires, they will toss whatever remains to the wind–not caring one iota about the millions of children who will be left with either no education or a very substandard education. Why should they even care? Their children all go to elite private schools that are training their kids to be the next generation of oligarchs.

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5. Carrie says:

   June 12, 2013 at 1:30 pm

   Ms D, you are so right. And whenever you see Jeb Bush and his FEE organization pushing privatization, you might also think about the Carlyle Group’s involvement.

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