A coalition of pastors in Dallas has issued a stirring call for public support of public schools.
This comes at a time when billionaire John Arnold has been organizing a campaign to turn Dallas into an all-charter district.
Leading pastors in Dallas–George Mason and Frederick Haynes, joined with four others–wrote an opinion piece, in which they said that public support for public schools is vital and that “choice” is illusory. .
They write:
Eighty-four percent of children in this country attend public schools. Slightly more than 60 percent (over 3 million of our 5 million Texas public school students) are identified as poor. These children in our public education system are our neighbors, and we are called to love them by providing a vibrant and thriving school system. That’s why Dallas-area pastors are calling on elected officials and leaders in the business, faith, parent, labor and neighborhood communities to support the public schools of greater Dallas…..
By investing in public education, we invest in the future of 5 million Texas schoolchildren. This basic investment is the key to a child’s future economic mobility, the financial stability of Texas families and the state’s long-term economic prosperity. Dallas residents know the direct correlation between education achievement and economic viability.
We must prioritize the adequate funding of our institutions of public education for the benefit of all Texans. The past two sessions of the Legislature have seen contentious fights over public education policy. Because public education is such a sound investment in our children’s future, one wonders: What’s the dispute?
There are two competing visions for public education: one weakens the public portion, and one strengthens it. On one side, there is a drive to defund public education, de-professionalize teaching, misuse test scores to declare schools as failing, and institute paths to privatize schools in the name of school reform. These privatization schemes take the form of private school vouchers, for-profit virtual schools, and corporate chain charter schools that do not serve all students equally.
The other vision, a vision which we embrace, is to provide adequate funding for all schools, raise the bar with higher standards and more respect for the teaching profession, focus on a rich instructional program instead of a narrow overemphasis on testing, and engage community partners in support for neighborhood schools and the children and families they serve.
Those advocating privatization have attacked the public school system and falsely labeled neighborhood schools failures. This arbitrary judgment has been exposed as a cynical strategy to divert public education money for private purposes, and has brought advocates like us to the fight against privatization and in support of initiatives that tell the true story about the value of our public schools.
The “choice” that corporate chain charters and private schools claim to offer parents and students is illusory. It is really these private operators who exercise their own freedom to choose which students they will recruit and retain and which students they will exclude or filter out. And the latter group will disproportionately include Hispanics, African-Americans, English language learners, students with disabilities and students who are at risk because of disciplinary or academic difficulties. These children are our neighbors, too.
We join with Dallas community leaders and parents who understand that we must keep our attention upon the real and pressing — and constitutionally mandated — need for full funding for public education. Dabbling in political diversions that are peripheral to the adequate education of all the children of Texas is dangerous and foolhardy. This is not the time to divert funding away from our neighborhood schools, which provide a place of refuge and support for all Texas children, no matter their background, situation or educational need. More important, it is the loving thing to do.
George Mason is senior pastor at Wilshire Baptist Church. Reach him at gmason@wilshirebc.org. Frederick Haynes is senior pastor at Friendship-West Baptist Church. Reach him through the church at friendship west.org/main/contact-us.
OPEN LETTER: Other signers
Joe Clifford, senior pastor, First Presbyterian Church, Dallas
Bryan Carter, senior pastor, Concord Baptist Church, Dallas
Joel Sanchez, preaching minister, Skillman Church of Christ, Dallas
Andy Stoker, senior minister, First United Methodist Church
I have been waiting for mainline churches to make a statement on this. It’s how I was raised, for sure. Looking after community is how you care for the poor first; then you collect shoe boxes if toys or whatever. But providing schools for all children must come first.
Privatizing that is dressed up as charity and concern for the poor is surely the devil at work. But even in the most pious of communities, it can be easy to spook people into believing they are better served with “choice.”
I personally suspect that truly guarding our hearts from selfishness is what prepares us to discern the difference between superstition and community compassion. And surely selfishness is something with which we all wrestle. Godspeed for the efforts of these faith leaders in Texas. May their spirit be right in compassion and grounded in truth.
A wonderful article…thank you to these pastors for standing up for public education and exposing the privatization movement for exactly what it is…a fraud and crime against our children and their families, our educators, our public school system, and our great nation. These are true 21st century American patriots.
cross posted at OPED News
http://www.opednews.com/Quicklink/Dallas-Coalition-of-Pasto-in-Best_Web_OpEds-Children_Diane-Ravitch_Funding_Political-141021-289.html#comment516908
with this INTRODUCTION:
Public SCHOOLS IN THE NEWS: Taking back our schools! ‘we must keep our attention upon the real and pressing — and constitutionally mandated — need for full funding for public education. Dabbling in political diversions that are peripheral to the adequate education of all the children of Texas is dangerous and foolhardy. This is not the time to divert funding away from our neighborhood schools, which provide a place of refuge and support for all Texas children, no matter their background, situation or educational need. More important, it is the loving thing to do.’ A coalition of pastors in Dallas has issued that stirring call for public support of public schools. This comes at a time when billionaire John Arnold has been organizing a campaign to turn Dallas into an all-charter district. READ MORE ABOUT TAKING OUR PUBLIC SCHOOLS BACK in TEXAS!
AND THIS COMMENTARY (which has embedded links at the OPED link):
If you follow my posts on the 15,880/50 (districts/states) you know that a conspiracy of billionaires has developed a process to cause schools to fail, and when labeled as failing, ‘fixed them with their own magic elixir — charter schools.
Removing the professional’s voice and presence in the narrative came first with the lawless removal of due process for Americanswho just happened to be teachers! Gone– are the veteran teachers who know what learning looks like and how to enable it. Top-dwon mandates determine what Jonny and Jose feet in the classroom.
Teachers were the first thing to disappear, and then the funding was cancelled FOR OUR SCHOOLS!
On ‘austerity’ the first thing that disappears is public education funds, and what is left of the taxpayers contribution has been usurped (stolen) by charter school fraud.
Peter Greene says “The United States can never have too many privately managed charter schools. Arne Duncan doesn’t care if the schools exclude children with disabilities. He doesn’t care if they don’t enroll any English language learners. He doesn’t care if they drain funds from neighborhood public schools. Remember that this is the same man who said that Hurricane Katrina was the best thing to happen to education in New Orleans (it wiped out public education, the elimination of the teachers’ union, and the unjust firing of 7,500 teachers, 3/4 of whom were African American and the backbone of the local black community). And here are Arne’s awards, some to the richest charter chains in the nation:U.S. Department of Education Awards $39.7 Million in Grants to Expand High Quality Charter SchooL Contact: Press Office, (202) 401-1576, press@ed.gov
The huge division of systems allowed them to rape NYCand then move on to LAUSD, and the next largest district!
They have been replacing our wonderful road to opportunity, our INSTITUTION of PUBLIC EDUCATION, with schools they control –where they choose the kids, they write the curricula (and history)
Myra Blackmon says: “I worry when I read stories about groups demanding a more positive treatment of slavery — the greatest evil our great nation ever perpetuated — and an emphasis on the idea that God has somehow chosen America to be “better” than other natio Ms. Balkmon is a frequent contributor to Online Athens in Georgia, who writes in opposition to those who want to teach a sanitized version of U.S. history.”She writes that it is important to understand that we have made mistakes, committed terrible wrongs, and that dissent and protest hold an honored place in our history. To pretend that we were always in the right is bad history. ”
When charter schools rule, they re-write our history.
This is the insidious threat to our democracy. At the Ravitch blog, where teachers tell the reality, and Diane offers the facts about the Koch brothers plans to privatize schools and write the curricula and offers the evidence that Gateswrote the Common Core not educators and shows how he pushed that bogus ‘common core crud ‘– which is neither authentic standards nor genuine learning curricula, on the schools.
The Duncan narrative about teaching subverted the national conversation about learning.
What the end of public education means is not that we get to choose better schools, it means THEY get to tell our future citizens what they want. Orwelll shudders!
They enrich themselves at the same time, and push their products and ideas of teaching (not learning) sending billions of our tax money to the testing and publishing corporate entities.
Jersey Jazzman “warns of a very serious malady found in the charter industry: Charter cheerleading.
He says: “it is perfectly normal to be proud of your school and its accomplishments. It is normal to want the world to know that your teachers and kids are terrific.But charter cheerleaders go beyond the bounds of normal pride. Their schools are far, far better than yours. They quote statistics that ignore the reality of skimming and cherry-picking. They even boast when their school has not been open long enough to have produced any statistics. The simple fact of being a “charter” makes them say that they are better than any public school.These people need help.”
It is we the people who need help as they bamboozle the public.GO TO THE LINKS HERE AND LEARN WHAT IS HAPPENING IN AMERICAN EDUCATION… as we celebrate Halloween, await Xmas and worry about Ebola and Isis, and who will sin the Iowa race.
“. . . worry about Ebola and Isis. . . ”
ISIS is a product of that “American Exceptionalism” that pads the coffers of the death merchants-the Military Industrial Complex.
Indeed. You are a very smart person.
The most important statement: “More important, it is the loving thing to do.”
Agree Duane;)
t.a.g.o.
It would be nice if some of YOU who know my voice and that I speak to our needs and the needs of our students, GO TO THE LINK WHERE I POSTED THIS COMMENT, and write your response there, not merely here.
That site is read by some very bright folks who are NOT TEACHERS, so I am not preaching to the choir.
If they can see a real conversation about EDUCATION, they (Including the publisher and the editors) might realize that there are conversations ongoing about this travesty, while they blog and natter about ISIS and Ebola and that bad Obama.
If you respond to my cross-posts there (as well as here…just copy and paste) people will see intelligent conversations do go on about education.
It is not hard to post there, instructions are at the top of the page. It wouldn’t hurt if some teachers became members who that the news links there include those that we want to see in the media… I am 73 this Thanksgiving and I try to make education THE topic in the headlines.
Sigh.
EdNews – – Author’s Page for Susan Lee Schwartz
http://www.opednews.com/author/author40790.html
a list and links to ALL the articles/posts that I found and linked there (putting up an intro and a commentary when I do this.) and which have garnered 217,000 views!!!
Someone reads them… and will read YOUR COMMENTS!!!!
Good letter. Wish there were more signatures to it, including public sector workers, political leaders, high profile civic leaders, and CEOs who are not afraid to stand up for public schools .
Baby steps.
There will be.
Zitu Brown is right – it is a matter of what is moral.
I’m forwarding this to my sister who is a minister in Columbus OH… Based on what I’ve read this is happening there as well and MAYBE politicians will listen to a group of religious leaders better than they’ve listened to teachers… it was the religious leaders who got the public’s attention about the civil rights issue
And ..http://m.thenation.com/article/181751-what-happens-when-your-teacher-robot