Fruit From A Rotten Tree - The Truth About Barbara Byrd-Bennett & CPS
The following is from Jitu Brown, national director of the Journey for Justice Alliance and one of the Dyett Hunger Strikers.
As a CPS parent and long-time community organizer, I am appalled by the actions of Barbara Byrd-Bennett in stealing from Chicago's children to feather her already robust nest. What is more appalling however, is Mayor Rahm Emanuel's effort to isolate her actions as the corruption of an individual; and our acceptance of such nonsense. Corruption and discriminatory actions that disregard the voices of Black and Brown parents is central to the culture of the school privatization movement. While millions of dollars are pumped into selling the public on "school choice", nationwide corporate education interventions have failed to improve the academic outcomes in Black and Brown communities, while a laundry list of "reformers" have been caught violating the public trust.
Barbara Byrd Bennett - A Spoke in a Wheel
Barbara Byrd-Bennett was lauded as an accomplished educator, who had the ability to relate to the everyday parent and the skill to lead the nation's 3rd largest school district. The spin from the Emanuel administration highlights improved graduation rates as proof of her competency. What is not mentioned are the schemes used to give the illusion of growth; the rapid increase of alternative schools, programs such as credit recovery and CPS outright falsifying the data on the graduation rate. This is smoke and mirrors, not improved education. This is the true legacy of Barbara Byrd-Bennett in Chicago. What is also conveniently left out of the conversation is that in Detroit, she was an active participant in stripping the publicly elected school board of its authority, while dismantling an African-centered curriculum and focus that was dramatically improving student performance. In Cleveland, her expense account (provided by privatizers) was nearly as large as her annual salary, while the math performance of Black males plummeted on her watch. It is important to understand that Barbara Byrd Bennett is not the issue. Privatization produces the Barbara Byrd Bennett's of the world, setting the tone for this type of behavior. She is a symptom, not the disease. Unfortunately, she has a lot of company.
In Chicago, the former president of the Chicago Board of Education David Vitale approved 27 turnaround schools for the Academy of Urban School Leadership, where he used to be the board president. These were no-bid contracts. How are those schools doing? In Washington, DC Michelle Rhee was hailed as a "education warrior" who would lead the charge on bad teachers and failing schools; until it was revealed that she inflated her students' scores and taped their mouths shut as a discipline measure. Geoffrey Canada from the Harlem Children's Zone was celebrated as a visionary for connecting social services to his charter schools, creating a cradle to career system in Harlem, promoted as a national model; until we learned Op-Ed: Fruit From A Rotten Tree - The Truth About Barbara Byrd-Bennett & CPS | Progress Illinois:
