HoTep Skuderjaymes,
Tell me how firing experienced teachers, for what the dude in the article calls, "temps" help? Putting in place a system that is more unaccountable to the education of the children...you do not see anything wrong with that? Profit-driven charter schools aren't much different than profit-driven prisons.The end game for either aren't that much different.
Parents have as much a choice as the public does, with regard to what party to vote for.
I recall you having a conversation with someone. That person suggest that folks vote for a third party (perhaps the green party). You said something to the affect that, 'it doesn't matter because the powers that be would infiltrate that party rending as bad, or no better that the 2 parties we have now, for the entity that controls them both, runs them in the interest not of that of the people. That same entity is approaching the school system that way. That is, 'how can we make money'.
Sadly, kids in the chi are getting shot all over that city, however I do not see the correlation between those atrocities and the closing down of schools.
Something needs to change, sure. Yet what does history tell us about (for profit) privatization?
Peace Raptor,
you should ask the dude in the article about firing teachers and hiring Temps.. sounds like hyperbole to me. This whole thing is written in the language of teachers not wanting to lose their jobs (and rightly so.. no one wants to lose their job).. but if teachers are being fired for Temps, then recognize that those Temps are also Teachers.. let's not over do it.. Truth is.. if we really were to revolutionize Public Education, a lot more folks would lose their jobs.. but that's a whole other discussion..
In my opinion, Charter schools represent the best hope for breaking the cycle of impotent public education. There very many excellent Charter schools that offer programs to meet the needs of African American children.. needs that the regular public schools were not in the least concerned about.
The only thing Private Prisons and Private schools have in common are the word "
Private". The idea that anything private is somehow evil is an idea floated by Public workers not wanting to lose their spot. I would much rather pick my children's school based on the reputation and performance of that school.. and I like the idea that the for-profit motive will keep the school administration on it's toes.. Anyone that has ever spent an entire frustrating Afternoon in the DMV has experienced the demotivated government services environment.. they have no competition.. and no motivation to give you excellent service.. nor to modify their service offering to fit their customers.. they simply give you what they give you and you take it because you have no choice. And the same thing happens in the schools.. and in Government Hospitals.. and Government agencies of all kinds.
Many of the best schools in the country are Private.. and so the idea that children are better served by Public schools is dead in the water. Their should be choice.. I should be able to, as a parent, have more of a say in how my children's education dollars are spent.. and the school's should be attentive to the needs of the communities of children that they serve. That is not happening enough under the current system.. and their needs to be alternatives.. especially for African American children. Charters are a way in to a previously closed loop that holds very very many black students submerged in mediocrity.
I understand the Teacher argument.. I understand the jobs thing.. but the jobs thing does not trump the Education thing. Fact is, too much of the public discourse about the education of our children is focused on the contract status of Teachers.. and too little time is focused on the truth of what education the children are receiving. Teachers are important, but they are not more important than the children.
We have very many threads and discussions about how the education system is failing black children, but whenever the topic of changing the system comes up there is an almost automatic support for teachers and teachers unions as if they have nothing to do with problems in education. Change is difficult.. there's no way things can stay the same and change at the same time.. something has to give.
Our education system has been and is one of the primary battlegrounds for issues related to Race and Class.. let's not forget that.. I would personally like to see the entire system dismantled and rebuilt from the ground up with a full focus on the future of the children it serves.
- peace again..
