IMHO: What Exactly are We Fighting About?
By MICHAEL RANDAZZO, Community ContributorWord about a public school protest was roiling around the Internet early Monday morning. It was first mentioned by Lucy Koteen on Fort Greene Kids Yahoo! Group, in a post reading, “Come to Brooklyn Tech on Tuesday, November 16th before the Panel for Educational Policy meeting to protest Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s appointment of Cathleen Black as the next Public Schools Chancellor.” Then came more — a petition, asking State Education Commissioner David M. Steiner to deny Ms. Black a waiver which would allow her to serve as school chancellor — despite her lack of experience in public education. I thought, “What the hell. I totally disagree with the mayor on this.” So, like hundreds of others, I signed.
I was able to slip out of work and arrive an hour late to the 4:30 p.m. protest. Lots of folks were gathered outside. I had to wonder — did I miss all the action? An answer from someone in the teeming crowd, “No, this is just a press conference. Meeting’s inside.”
As I entered Brooklyn Technical High School, for the first time in my eight years of being a Fort Greene resident, a policeman asked if I was there to speak or to listen. I said to listen and he countered, “Well you have a right to speak if you want.” I thought about this and decided “sure, I can do this” —