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The fight to prevent hostile takeovers of public education goes national
more from Black Liberal Boomer
The fight to save public education and retain local control of those schools against hostile takeover attempts (such as the current takeover attempt in Michigan by our very own Gov. Rick Snyder explained in more detail here from an earlier post) has now attracted nationwide attention. On Tuesday, Jan. 29, representatives from school districts around the country who find themselves under siege in much the same way as Detroit Public Schools are joining together to participate in a hearing in Washington D.C. to air their grievances at the highest levels and make sure their story gets told – and acted upon.
In short, it appears a growing number of citizens are not only aware of the ongoing Republican attempt to affect the kind of totalitarian change on the state level that they were unable to achieve on the national level during the 2012 elections, but that they refuse to sit still and let it happen. On an even more basic level, when you threaten a parent’s control over the education of that parent’s child and effectively tell them there is nothing they can do about it? Yeah, well, that tends to kinda piss parents off. And not just in Detroit where being pissed off sometimes seems like a way of life.
But enough of me jabbering, because the press release that was distributed on Wednesday evening, Jan. 23, at the Dexter Elmhurst Center during the press conference explains precisely what’s happening and why this is important.
“More than 10 cities have filed, or are in the process of filing, 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. Representatives from 11 cities will testify at the hearing on the impact of school closings including the civil rights violations and the destabilization of their children and their communities resulting from the criteria used for school closings and the current accepted movement to privatize schools.
“Demands of the department of education include a moratorium on school closings until a new process can be implemented nationally, the implementation of a sustainable, community-driven school improvement process as national policy, and a meeting with President Obama so that he may hear directly from his constituents about the devastating impact and civil rights violations the current policy is perpetuating.
“The hearing will be followed by a procession and candlelight vigil at the Martin Luther King Memorial to continue to raise the voices of those impacted by the destabilization and sabotage of education in working and low-income communities of color.”
So far the “Journey for Justice 2013″ will have representation from Atlanta, GA; Europa, MS; Baltimore, MD; Boston, MA; Philadelphia, PA; Chicago, IL; Cleveland, OH; Detroit, MI; the District of Columbia; New York, NY; New Orleans, LA; Wichita, KS; Newark, NJ; Oakland, CA; Kansas City, MO.
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8 Responses to The fight to prevent hostile takeovers of public education goes national
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Pamela T
Jan. 25th, 2013 at 9:53 pm
We need to get the word out and quickly. Something like this should never be allowed to pass. Due to heavy backlash Cathrynn Brown was forced to rescind her rape bill, perhaps with enough pressure we can get the same result.
Make sure you contact them to let them know how you feel . Bob Thorpe, Carl Seel, Jeff Dial, Sonny Borrelli, Steve Smith, Chester Crandell and T.J. Shope.
Arizona Republicans Propose Bill That Would Not Allow Atheists To Graduate High School
www.patheos.com/blogs/fri...
Reynardine
Jan. 25th, 2013 at 10:45 pm
NowayinHell!!!
GeneralLerong
Jan. 26th, 2013 at 12:17 am
Impressive. Am glad someone is fighting back. In my state the Republicans just took over the legislature, so this is a nice antidote to despair.
msndis
Jan. 26th, 2013 at 4:21 pm
First off, I’m a democrat but am an independent voter–I cross party lines depending on the candidate.
The privatization of education is happening with both parties. Obama’s Race to the Top initiative requires states to allow charters in order to receive funding. So . . . this is not something the republicans are doing – all lawmakers seem to be on this bandwagon in order to help their monetary supporters make a profit off the backs of taxpayers.
Good luck in getting Obama to understand the situation. He seems to be deaf to reason when it comes to his horrible education policies.
James
Jan. 26th, 2013 at 6:16 pm
Save our Schools… Seriously??? Why? They are failing and both Parties are too blame. It’s time to reset them and get back to Teaching Facts and not worry if poor little Johnny fails. This pass them along, even if they can’t read/write or spell, is just plain wrong. And leave the brain washing of both sides of Politics OUT!
Luis
Jan. 26th, 2013 at 6:28 pm
It is definitely ON! And here is a look at what the fight against corporate education reform is all about: www.scribd.com/doc/106337...
labman57
Jan. 26th, 2013 at 8:44 pm
Many Republicans would love to see the public education system be financially gutted and instead have the private education system be government-subsidized. One reason: they regard any form of public education (k-12 or college) as part of a subversive left-wing plot to corrupt and brainwash our youth.
Unlike the public school system, private schools would not be restricted from propagating right wing revisionist history in their social studies classes, nor proselytizing religious ideology and promoting corporate-funded anti-environmental propaganda in the science classroom.
Vouchers are intended to allow students from (once again) highly motivated families attend costly private schools which they would otherwise not be able to attend. The funding for the vouchers comes from the state or federal government, i.e., the government is essentially subsidizing the private school industry. Since private schools can select student admittance based on the family’s financial status and academic ability, this would create a further divide between the “haves” and “have nots” in our society.
Since vouchers only account for a portion of the cost of tuition at a private school, families in the lower third of the economic range would still be excluded from attending, resulting in the public school system being further saturated with the poorest students, the lowest achieving students (including ELD and learning disabled), and those that are least motivated to attain academic success.
Furthermore, comparing performance data between public and private schools is not scientifically valid — the latter can select students for admission based on entrance qualifications, and they can remove students from their programs based on poor conduct or academic performance. Therefore, the performance data becomes extremely skewed compared with public schools which legally must accept anyone who resides within its residency boundaries.
Bob V
Jan. 27th, 2013 at 1:00 pm
School closure is one part of the effort to privatize the public schools. That is, take the money from the public schools and hand it over to private interests with zero accountability to the local public. Help us stop these closures. Read, sign, and share the NEW letter to Obama at .