First World Education Problems in Detroit (Part II, Catherine Ferguson Academy)
School closing protests--a first-world ed-problem, if there ever was one--are everywhere these days. In crumbling rust-belt urban centers and leafy suburbs, we're closing, consolidating, belt-tightening. It's hard to argue with population migration--Detroit lost a quarter of its citizens in the last decade--or for keeping every beloved neighborhood school open if half the classrooms are empty. But--"economic efficiency" isn't the only reason that schools are targeted for closing. We all know this.
I just visited a famous almost-closed school in Detroit: Catherine Ferguson Academy. The name may be familiar from MSNBC's coverage on the Rachel Maddow Show in April, 2011. CFA is a unique and innovative school for teen mothers, where students worked an urban farm, complete with animals, right on the playground. The storyline was good--the girls stayed in school, and most of them went on to two- and four-year colleges. But it
I just visited a famous almost-closed school in Detroit: Catherine Ferguson Academy. The name may be familiar from MSNBC's coverage on the Rachel Maddow Show in April, 2011. CFA is a unique and innovative school for teen mothers, where students worked an urban farm, complete with animals, right on the playground. The storyline was good--the girls stayed in school, and most of them went on to two- and four-year colleges. But it