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Friday, January 27, 2017

STEVEN SINGER: Trump Says Our Schools Are “Flush with Cash!?” They’re Falling Apart! - BillMoyers

Trump Says Our Schools Are “Flush with Cash!?” They’re Falling Apart! - BillMoyers.com:

Trump Says Our Schools Are “Flush with Cash!?” They’re Falling Apart!

Our schools have not gotten worse; they've stayed the same

Image result for Schools Are “Flush with Cash

 This post originally appeared at Common Dreams.


Donald Trump lies.
If you haven’t learned that yet, America, you’ve got four more cringe-inducing years to do so.
Even in his inaugural address, he couldn’t help but let loose a whooper about US public schools.
“Americans want great schools for their children, safe neighborhoods for their families and good jobs for themselves,” he said. “But for too many of our citizens, a different reality exists. … An education system flush with cash but which leaves our young and beautiful students deprived of all knowledge.”
To which nearly every poor, nonwhite public school parent, student and teacher in the country replied, “What’s that heck did he just say now!?”
Los Angeles Unified School District routinely has broken desks and chairs, missing ceiling tiles, damaged flooring, broken sprinklers, damaged lunch tables and broken toilet paper dispensers.
They’re flush with cash!?
New York City public schools removed more than 160 toxic light fixtures containing polychlorinated biphenyls, a cancer causing agent that also hinders cognitive and neurological development. Yet many schools are still waiting on a fix, especially those serving minority students.
They’re flush with cash!?
At Charles L. Spain school in Detroit, the air vents are so warped and moldy, turning on the heat brings a rancid stench. Water drips from a leaky roof into the gym, warping the floor tiles. Cockroaches literally scurry around some children’s classrooms until they are squashed by student volunteers.
They’re flush with freakin cash!?
Are you serious, Donald Trump!?
And this same picture is repeated at thousands of public schools across the nation especially in impoverished neighborhoods. Especially in communities serving a disproportionate number of black, Latino or other minority students.
In predominantly white, upper-class neighborhoods, the schools often ARE “flush with cash.” Olympic-size swimming pools, pristine bathrooms — heck — air conditioning! But in another America across the tracks, schools are defunded, ignored and left Trump Says Our Schools Are “Flush with Cash!?” They’re Falling Apart! - BillMoyers.com: