Why has the NAACP joined with the United Federation of Teachers to sue to stop the closing of 19 failing New York City public schools? The teachers union's opposition to the move is understandable - it represents educators, including the ones who are directly affected by these closings.
But the NAACP? It's supposed to be a champion of kids - specifically, black kids, who in this city are still in large numbers being shortchanged and kept functionally illiterate in large part due to terrible schools.
No matter: The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is effectively hindering the advancement of children who deserve better educational opportunities.
The NAACP is standing right alongside the teachers union, claiming that failing schools deserve a second and third chance, that the school authorities have not dotted every "i" or crossed every "t" to satisfy some less than mathematical formula in state law about the "community impact" of closing schools.
You gotta be kidding me. Is this the best thinking the NAACP is capable of - siding with teachers who have failed to raise the academic achievement levels of the mostly black and brown and poor kids trapped in lousy public schools?
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/2010/02/04/2010-02-04_its_the_naacp_vs_the_schoolchildren.html#ixzz0eZl3IlEv