If you should read Eve Ewing’s Ghosts in the Schoolyard, you will have the context for understanding the incessant disruption imposed on the students and parents of New Orleans. Parents were fearful that the superintendent planned to close schools and scatter their children.
At a recent meeting, the superintendent announced that he was closing five low-performing charter schools and approving a new group of charters. The superintendent, Henderson Lewis Jr., stressed how difficult these decisions were.
“This month has been a test for myself, my staff, this board and our system as a whole,” Lewis said. “It tested our courage, our consistency, and it tested humility.”
Parents were furious. They did not praise the superintendent and his staff for their courage and humility.
Because these were action items, the public was finally allowed to speak, and the meeting became heated at times. However, when speakers veered off topic — to school closures, for example — they were asked to leave the podium.
At one point, as the board asked a woman to stop talking the crowd reacted in a chant: “Let her talk! Let her talk! Let her talk!”
At another moment, organizer Ashana Bigard spoke from the audience.
“You represent us, when did you ask us?” Bigard asked. “Did anybody sit in a meeting where we discussed these changes?”
A collective “no” was the response.
Several speakers and people in the audience called for the district to directly run its schools.
One woman specifically criticized the nearly all-charter district. “Y’all are passing out charters like you’re Oprah or something. You get a charter. You get a charter. You get a charter.”
Another speaker pleaded with the board: “After tonight, please don’t close or charter any other school. If you’ve got a problem with administration, run the school don’t close the school.”
After the meeting, Bigard said she planned to help parents organize.
“We are organizing parents that want to come together to get real democracy and real choice,” she said. “We’re going to start our recall campaign tomorrow.”
She said she was particularly concerned with the trauma students experience when they’re moved from school to school.
“They’re picking on special needs children and black and brown children,” she said. “They get the least when they’re supposed to get the most.”
Forty percent of the charter schools in New Orleans are rated D or F. All of them are overwhelmingly black.
The superintendent thinks that he can make all of them excellent schools if he keeps closing those with low grades.
Kinda ironic to praise your own humility, no?
“Parents were furious.”
Good! History shows that a large number of people have to be very angry to move to the next step beyond furious. I read once that all it takes is 5-percent of a population to have a successful rebellion or civil war.
I think that is the only thing that will stop ALEC, The Gathering, Trump, and the greedy Hedge Fund CEOs from destroying everything … and I mean everything but the planet itself. No matter what these human’s do to the planet, it will recover after ten thousand years or more and some life will remain but not our species.
It’s just nutty, how they can’t seem to stop closing public schools:
“Mayoral candidate Paul Vallas vowed to “right-size” a Chicago Public Schools system with 150,000 more seats than students — by “re-inventing” schools with declining enrollments, “re-purposing” shuttered schools and closing others after community input.”
Get ready, Chicago. They’re back. Rahm Emmanuel leaves and there’s another identical replacement right behind him.
I love how they all use the same words – “reinventing” is hugely popular. Betsy DeVos even parrots it.
“Reform” has all kinds of bad associations now so they needed a new word for the same stale privatization plans.
As long as the corporate rapists of public education hold the political power in a city, state or the federal government, what the majority of people want and support doesn’t count.
The corporate rapists of public education will build detours around the people, the US Constitution and democracy to achieve their draconian, greed based goals.
That is how a Kleptocracy works. Greed is their god, the golden calf.
One woman specifically criticized the nearly all-charter district. “Y’all are passing out charters like you’re Oprah or something. You get a charter. You get a charter. You get a charter.”
If we ever find out the identity of this woman, I’d like to nominate her for the Honor Roll.
“If we ever find out the identity of this woman, I’d like to nominate her for the Honor Roll.”
I second that.
Oh, I third it! I was just in New Orleans, & parents opposing “choice” & charter schools are getting a bit of press & have been on local tv news. Make noise, keep fighting–yes, YOU can!!
& I keep yelling about Paul Vallas; approximately 17 people (there’s still a week or so to file, I think) are running for mayor in Chicago.
(Troy LaRaviere has dropped out; if there had been less people, he may have stood some chance.) My point: I have been told, “this person’s running, that person’s running. Vallas doesn’t have a prayer.”
Oh yeah? Look who’s the president–w/so many Republicans running in the primary, & the same thing was said then.
Please, Mercedes (& Helen Gym & Jonathan Pelto) please write an op ed essay about your cities’ experiences w/him & send it to The Chicago Sun-Times. PLEASE!!