An education reform civil war in the Black community?
I have begun thinking about the education reform dispute as a civil war in the Black community.
Incidentally, at my uncle funeral in Saginaw Michigan this past weekend, I met a fourth cousin who told me that our great great great grandfather fought in the US Civil War for the Union Army in the 110th colored. I learned he was captured at Fort Henderson in Athens, Alabama by General Nathan Bedford Forrest and was a POW until his escape 8 months later. Probably one of the most, most profound things that has happened to me this year.
Returning to the civil war that is occurring in 2016. I spoke at a Journey for Justice Alliance conference at SUNY Old Westbury on Monday before the first presidential debates. I discussed my perspective on the education reform civil war in the Black community. A draft of my remarks is below the video.
We want policymakers to notice that there is something happening in urban communities. On the one side are charter operators, billionaire foundations, and their acolytes who are supporting the private control of public money for education that was envisioned by the economist Milton Freidman in the 1950s. On the other side are parents and communities who are demanding high-quality, properly resourced, democratically controlled, neighborhood public schools.The dispute even has national civil rights organizations at odds. The National Urban League, United Negro College Fund, NCLR and other civil rights organizations have typically aligned themselves with market-based school choice proponents. On the other side, the NAACP delegates have voted on three national resolutions critical of charter schools over the past six years— the most recent resolution is awaiting a vote by the NAACP National Board. Black Lives Matters coalition, our nation’s newest national civil rights movement composed of more than 50 organizations, also released a platform of policy demands critical of charter schools and school privatization this past summer.Recently, both sides of the education reform civil war have focused on communicating to policymakers and the public that they are representing the interests of urban communities that have been historically underserved on purpose by our nation. Market-based choice proponents underscored the dispute this past week when charter school owners and their supporters released a letter saying they represent the interests of tens of thousands of Black students and bemoaning the NAACP’s most recent resolution criticizing charter schools.Today, in response to the market-based reformers, we, the supporters of high-quality, properly resourced, democratically controlled, neighborhood public schools are holding events at the first presidential debate in New York to focus on the release of the Journey for Justice Alliance (J4J)’s national public education platform. As a founding board member, I am honored that these events are co-sponsored An education reform civil war in the Black community? – Cloaking Inequity: