Here you go! http://www.powerphiladelphia.org/news/mother-bethel-ame-hosts-public-meeting -on-citys-school-reorganization-plan
On 4/26/12 7:18 AM, "Wilma de Soto" <wil.p...@comcast.net> wrote: > Why Isn't Closing 40 Philadelphia Public Schools National News? Where Is the > Black Political Class? > By Bruce A. Dixon > Created 04/25/2012 - 13:50 > > By BAR managing editor Bruce A. Dixon > If some racist made an inappropriate remark about the First Lady or her > children our national "civil rights leaders" Obama fans all of them, would be > all over that. But standing up for ordinary black children is something our > leaders just don't do much any more. When was the last time you heard > Sharpton, Jealous or any of that tribe inveigh against school closings and the > creeping privatization of our schools? > > Why Isn't Closing 40 Philadelphia Public Schools National News? Where Is the > Black Political Class? > By BAR managing editor Bruce A. Dixon > > In what should be the biggest story of the week, the city of Philadelphia's > school system announced Tuesday that it expects to close 40 public schools > next year and 64 by 2017. The school district expects to lose 40% of current > enrollment to charter schools, the streets or wherever, and put thousands of > experienced, well qualified teachers, often grounded in the communities where > they teach [4], on the street. > > Ominously, the shredding of Philadelphia's public schools isn't even news > outside Philly. This correspondent would never have known about it save for a > friend's Facebook posting early this week [5]. Corporate media in other cities > don't mention massive school closings, whether in Chicago, Atlanta, NYC, or in > this case Philadelphia, perhaps so people won't have given the issue much deep > thought before the same crisis is manufactured in their town. Even inside > Philadelphia the voices of actual parents, communities, students and teachers > are shut out of most newspaper and broadcast accounts. > > The black political class is utterly silent and deeply complicit. Even local > pols and notables who lament the injustice of local austerity avoid mentioning > the ongoing wars and bailouts which make these things ³necessary.² A string of > black mayors have overseen the decimation of Philly schools. Al Sharpton, Ben > Jealous and other traditional ³civil rights leaders² can always be counted on > to rise up indignant when some racist clown makes an inappropriate remark > about the pretty black First Lady and her children. > > But they won't grab the mic for ordinary black children. They won't start and > won't engage the public in a conversation about saving public education. It's > not because they don't care. It's because they care very much about their > funding, which comes from Bill Gates and the Gates Foundation, from Wal-mart > and the Walton Family Foundation, from the corporations that run charter > charter schools and produce standardized tests. > > To name just one payment to one figure, Rev. Al Sharpton took a half million > dollar ³loan² from charter school advocates [6] in New York City, after which > he went on tour with Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and Newt Gingrich [7] > extolling the virtues of standardized testing, charter schools and educational > privatization. > > Bill Gates delivered the keynote speech [8] at the latest gathering of the > National Urban League. And the nation's two big teachers' unions, NEA and AFT > have already endorsed Barack Obama's re-election, and will funnel him gobs of > union dues as campaign contributions, despite his corporate-inspired ³Race To > The Top [9]² program which awards federal education funds in proportion to how > many teachers are fired and replaced by inexperienced temps, how many schools > are shut down, and how many charter schools exempt from meaningful public > oversight are established and granted public funds. > > The fix has been in for a long time, and not just in Philadelphia. Philly's > school problems are anything but unique. The city has a lot of poor and black > children. Our ruling classes don't want to invest in educating these young > people, preferring instead to track into lifetimes of insecure, low-wage labor > and/or prison. Our elites don't need a populace educated in critical thinking. > So low-cost holding tanks that deliver standardized lessons and tests, via > computer if possible, operated by profit-making ³educational entrepreneurs² > are the way to go. > > The business class can pocket the money which used to pay for teachers' and > custodians' retirement and health benefits, for music and literature and gym > classes, for sports and science labs and theater and all that other stuff that > used to be wasted on public school children. > The national vision of ruling Democrats and Republicans and the elites who > fund them is to starve, discredit, denounce and strangle public education. > Philly and its children, parents, communities and teachers are only the latest > victims of business-class school reform. And they won't be the last. > > One of the recent CEO's of Philadelphia Public Schools was a guy from Chicago > named Paul Vallas. Vallas's previous job was head of Chicago's Public Schools > where his ³innovations² included military charter schools and wholesale school > closings to get around local laws that school parent councils veto power over > the appointment of principals. Vallas was succeeded by Arne Duncan, now > Secretary of Education, and arrived in Philly in 2002. > > As CEO of Philly schools he closed and privatized chunks of 40 schools, > leaving town for post-Katrina New Orleans where he closed more than 100 public > schools and fired every last teacher, custodian and staff person to create a > business-friendly citywide charter school experiment. After his post-Katrina > destruction of New Orleans public education, Vallas went to post-earthquake > Haiti to commit heaven only knows what atrocity on the corpse of public > education there. > > So the carving up of Philadelphia public schools IS a national story. It's > just one that corporate media won't tell. Not in Philly, not in LA, not in > Kansas City or anywhere, for fear that ordinary people might try to write > themselves into a leading role. Polls show that the American people don't want > their schools privatized, and don't believe education should be run by > business people like a business. People want to take the money we spend on > wars and bailouts and use it on education. Telling the story might give people > the notion that the ultimate power is in their hands, not of mayors and > chambers of commerce or the so-called ³CEOs² of school system. It's time that > story was told, and more of us heard it. > > Kwame Toure used to say that the thing to do is join an organization and pick > a fight. If you can't find an organization you like, he said, start one and > then pick a fight. It's that time in Philly, and in Los Angeles and New York > and wherever you are. It's time to stand up for our children and > grandchildren. > > To find out more about the bipartisan war against education, check > outhttp://dumpduncan.org <http://dumpduncan.org/> [10], and sign the petition > to dump Arne Duncan. Go tohttp://substancenews.net <http://substancenews.net/> > [11] for news of the national struggle for education and democracy. Listen to > Education Radio at http://www/education-radio.blogspot.com [12]. Visit the > blogs of Susan O'Hanion [13] and Diane Ravtich [14] online, and a hundred > other similar places. See for yourself what real principals and teachers have > to say about standardized testing [15]. It's time to pick a fight, to join > something, or start something. > > Bruce A. Dixon is managing editor at Black Agenda Report, and lives and works > in Marietta GA. He is on the state committee of the Georgia Green Party and > can be reached at bruce.dixon(at)blackagendareport.com. > >
