Juan Pagan: Warning to NYC mayoral candidates about the personal damage done by closing schools
A few weeks ago, there was an education rally at Harlem’s First Corinthian Baptist Church, in whichspeaker after speaker explained why the next mayor MUST take a different direction and stop the juggernaut of school closings, co-locations, and budget cuts that are laying waste to the education of our 1.1 million public schoolchildren. But the most eloquent speech came from a parent leader named Juan Pagan, whose daughter attended Legacy HS, one of the schools that the DOE decided to phase out despite a spirited battle by its students, teachers and parents.
Mayor Bloomberg has criticized parents like Juan who oppose the closing of their children's schools, saying they just don't understand the value of a good education. Sadly, it is the mayor who doesn't understand the damage his agency has wreaked on thousands of NYC children. Juan's observations about the lack of services and classes available to his daughter echo the observations made by teams sent by the State Education Department about other phase out schools, likeJamaica HS in Queens. Here is Juan's speech:
photo credit: The NY Times |
My name is Juan Pagan. I'm a single father of a teenage daughter. As any single parent can tell you, that's a tough job in