In recent years, we have heard all sorts of surprising people claim that they are engaged in “the civil rights issue of our day.” On behalf of their vision, they promote privatization of public schools, closing public schools, destabilizing communities, busting teachers’ unions, laying off teachers, high-stakes testing, for-profit charters, vouchers, replacing teachers with computers, and eliminating democratic control of education.
Now the REAL civil rights movement is standing up and their agenda has nothing in common with the one just described.
Watch out, the civil rights movement is on the move. They don’t have money. They have something far more powerful: the consent of the governed.
Journey for Justice
“A National Grassroots Education Movement”
Members:
Ambler, PA
Mattison Avenue Elementary School
Atlanta, GA
Project South
Baltimore, MD
Baltimore Algebra Project
Boston, MA
Boston Youth Organizing Project
Chicago, IL
Action Now
Kenwood-Oakland Community Organization
Cleveland, OH
Common Good Ohio
Detroit, MI
Keep the Vote/NO Takeover
Eupora, MS
Fannie Lou Hamer Center
Hartford, CT
Parent Power
Kansas City, MO
Full Potential
Los Angeles, CA
Crenshaw High School
Labor Community Strategy Center
Newark, NJ
Parents Unified for Local School Education (PULSE)
New Orleans, LA
C6
Friends and Family of Louisiana’s Incarcerated Children
Parents Across America
New York, NY
Alliance for Quality Education
Make the Road NY
NYC Coalition for Educational Justice
Urban Youth Collaborative
Oakland, CA
Santa Fe Elementary
Philadelphia, PA
Action United
Philadelphia Student Union
Youth United for Change
Washington, D.C.
Alliance for Education Justice
Empower DC
Leadership Center for the Common Good
Wichita, KS
Sunflower Action
Technical support provided by:
The Annenberg Institute for School Reform
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Laurie R. Glenn
Phone: 773.704.7246
E-mail: lrglenn@thinkincstrategy.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
MONDAY, JANUARY 28, 2013
MEDIA ALERT
PHILADELPHIA CITY COUNCIL SUPPORTS 1-YEAR MORATORIUM ON SCHOOL CLOSINGS PRIOR TO HEARING WITH DUNCAN & DEPT. OF ED TO CALL FOR END TO DISCRIMINATORY SCHOOL ACTIONS
Philadelphia Leads Nation With Approval of Moratorium On School Closings & Debates Heat Up In Detroit,
New York and Across the Country In Anticipation of Hearing
WHAT: In the wake of publicity about the upcoming community hearing before Arne Duncan (in attendance for early portion of hearing)and the U.S. Department of Education in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday, January 29th, 2013, voices across the country are taking notice of the growing national movement and accelerating debates and actions to address the devastating impact and civil rights violations resulting from the unchecked closings and turnarounds of schools serving predominantly low-income students of color.
On Thursday, January 24th, 2013, the Philadelphia City Council voted 14-2 in favor of a nonbinding resolution put forward by the Philadelphia Coalition Advocating for Public Schools (PCAPS), calling for a one-year moratorium on school closings. Debate also heated up in New York City as representatives took the issue to the state capitol and an announcement was made this week that the Dept. of Education Office of Civil Rights has launched a probe into the Title VI Civil Rights complaint in Detroit.
Cities who have filed Title VI Civil Rights complaints with the U.S. Department of Education Office of Civil Rights citing the closing of schools and the criteria and methods for administering those actions as discriminatory toward low-income, minority communities include: Chicago, New York, Detroit, Newark, Washington D.C., Philadelphia and Ambler, Pa. Additional cities preparing to file complaints include: Oakland, Calif.; Los Angeles; New Orleans and Boston.
Students, parents and advocacy representatives from 18 major United States cities impacted by neglectful school actions will testify at the hearing and demand the Department of Education place a moratorium on school closings until a new process can be implemented nationally, implement a sustainable, community-driven school improvement process as national policy, and provide a meeting with President Obama so that he may hear directly from his constituents about the devastating impact and civil rights violations.
WHO: Approximately 500 students, parents and community representatives representing 18 cities across the country will attend the hearing including: Ambler, Pa.; Atlanta; Baltimore; Boston; Chicago; Cleveland; Detroit; District of Columbia; Eupora, Miss.; Hartford, Conn.; Kansas City, Mo.; Los Angeles; Newark; New Orleans; New York; Oakland, Calif.; Philadelphia; and Wichita, Kan.
WHEN/
WHERE: Community Hearing & Rally
Tuesday, January 29th, 2013
2:00 p.m. – 3:55 p.m. EST
U.S. Department of Education
400 Maryland Ave. SW
Washington, DC 20202
Candlelight Vigil
Tuesday, January 29th, 2013
5:00 p.m. EST
Martin Luther King Memorial
1964 Independence Ave. SW
Washington, DC 20024
WHY: As the national hearing approaches,cities across the country are stepping up actions to address the negative impact of school closings on low-income students of color.
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Diane Ravitch's blog 
This issue of charters as an affront to civil rights was discussed on yesterday’s MELISSA HARRIS PERRY show, here:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46979745/
…and I am CERTAIN that MHP took heat from NBC brass for doing so, especially as part of the network’s EDUCATION NATION platform….
Possibly change is coming? Bravo Melissa Harris Perry.
And organizations like Dump Duncan are helping spread the word: http://dumpduncan.org.
I am concerned about a major flaw in this suit. Implicit in its framing is the acceptance of school closings. Are we really only about the equitable choosing of which schools to close? School closings are at the center of the corporate reform agenda. They are trying to create the conditions for parents to promote charter schools. Shouldn’t we be about opposition to school closings and for the equitable funding of all schools?
This movement has received poor media coverage, and unfortunately Diane’s post here is lacking in texture. The filings are targeting ALL four SIG-related mandates, only one of which is closure. Equitable funding has been fought for through the OCR (to varying degrees of success) in past suits. The movement proposes a 5th option for schools receiving SIG, the Sustainable Success Model. Discussions of equitable funding are necessarily tied up in all of this.
And this is not a “civil rights movement” purely in opposition to the fake one, and necessarily in favor of what Diane Ravitch or Randi Weingarten wants. This is a movement led by people of color with a legacy in past movements, and is more complicated than just anti-deform/
I know in certain cities they have basically nullified the ability of elected school boards to make decisions within the district. In some cases, the taxpayers agreed to pay for new schools and the schools were taken from the district. I’m not sure but it may have something to do with some of this too. I saw that some of it was related to suspensions. There was a school in Detroit where the kids walked out and protested the closing of their school (on the outside lawn). The kids were supposedly given excessive suspensions-it is linked to race.
FYI for all, in the context of civil rights, it would be useful for someone, somehow to reach out to Bill Cosby and help him see the light. He was a big name addition to the StudentsLast board of directors. If he could be presented with the truth on how he has been tricked into supporting the educational apartheid that StudentsLast is pushing, we might see him reverse his support and speak out on how he too was tricked. There is no voice so strong and persuasive as the one that has come out from the other side due to the righteous indignation of having been deceived.
The problem with famous people like Bill Cosby, John Legend and Oprah Winfrey is that they just got a surface view of the problem. They didn’t look deep enough to see what the long term issues were going to be. They wanted to believe that this was going to be the answer. My concern is that there ego is going to get in the way of their realization that they were duped. I do hope that they can admit that they made a mistake and that ed reform was not the answer.
I’m sorry I meant solution not problem. They were given a surface view of the solution.
The very essence of charter schools is segregation. Part of the problem is that folks who want their special interest served do not realize that other people have special interests too. I was told by a fellow who was signing the petition to start charter schools in Washington State that he favors religious education. It never occured to him that other religions such as satanism are also being served. I do not know if satanism is ackowledged as a religion nationally but it is in the state institution where I work. There are, organized, satanic meetings.
There are only two reasons to support charter schools. One is segregation the other profit. This seems so obvious.
Another issue is that I met up with a fellow district employee who told me that her grandchildren were going to attend a charter school in California because she wants to make sure they have a good educati
on. How is it possible that a school distict employee doesn’t know any better? The word is not out and the union which is currently patting itself on the back for a roadsign in Indiana is, yet again, missing the boat. Thanks. Pat
Diane, thank you for lifting up the Youth and communities testifying. We agree: Southern Freedom Movements are being regenerated!
We’re publishing more on the Southern regional organizing the People’s First 100 Days of actions at http://southtosouth.org
Folks can still sign up to join the People’s 100 Days!
Feb 14th is the 100th day, with actions planned across the South to bring “Love in the Streets” and “Freedom of Movement” for all.
Join us: http://peoples100days.org