An Assault on Public Schools
Author and advocate Mike Klonsky again writes to Deborah Meier today. The two are currently co-blogging on Bridging Differences.
Deb,
What a week it's been!
I'm feeling a little shocked-and-awed by the Supreme Court's Schuette decision. It's another nail in the coffin of affirmative action (but not white affirmative action, of course, nor affirmative action for the children of the wealthy donors or alums). Schuette is rightly being called this court's Plessy v. Ferguson.
It follows on the heels of the Court's rollback of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and continues to make the possibility of higher education more a pipe dream than a reality for all but the wealthy.
I hope you've read Justice Sotomayor's brilliant and powerful dissent.
"Race matters ... The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to speak openly and candidly on the subject of race, and to apply the Constitution with eyes open to the unfortunate effects of centuries of racial discrimination."
I'm still hoping President Obama as well as leading voices in the field of education will say something about this horrendous decision. It deserves our condemnation.
Teachers and schools will never be left alone to decide how best to educate children. No matter how badly some wish for an end to "politics" in schools, it's like wishing that winter won't show itself next January. Better to bundle up and get ready.
Back in the early '90s, the main problem facing small-school-ers seemed to be how to carve out An Assault on Public Schools - Bridging Differences - Education Week: