Celebrating parent voice! Parents: We believe in public schools
Yesterday parent at the Luis Muñoz Marìn School voted last night 223-70 to remain a District public school. The vote mirrored a similar blow-out vote by parents at the Edward T. Steel Elementary last month. Parents United released the following statement.
Parents: We believe in public schools
Parents United for Public Education celebrates the voices of parents who spoke loudly and clearly at Luis Muñoz Marìn School last night and earlier last month at Edward T. Steel School: Parents believe in public schools.
The vote for public education was a resounding statement by an overwhelming majority of parents to reinvest in our neighborhood public schools. Their vote shut down attempts to shame and divide stable and established school communities. Instead parents talked about strong teacher & staff relationships, stable leadership, a culture of respect, and meaningful parent voice – not just pretenses at parent “choice.”
Both the Steel and Muñoz Marìn votes are a huge referendum on the District’s signature reform initiative: Parents reject Renaissance charters. Steel and Muñoz Marìn parents raised significant concerns about management, narrowly-defined academic gains, and millions of dollars in costs lost to this effort. These were not votes based on ignorance. Both Mastery Schools Inc. and ASPIRA, Inc are charter operators that are well known within the communities they targeted. Many families had experiences with each charter operator. As fellow parents we have to ask, how many of the other two dozen-some Renaissance charter school communities would have voted to remain a District public school if given the opportunity? We urge the District to review the Renaissance program and particularly the voices and desires of school communities who are organized and organizing Celebrating parent voice! Parents: We believe in public schools | Parents United for Public Education: