I’ve been hearing that the District blocks the website Storify, so many teachers found themselves unable to read my post this morning, and instead are getting this error message:
There’s nothing more serious here than a general policy against the use of social media (no censorship issues that I am aware of, unless you hold the very reasonable position that sites like twitter and storify are part of the media these days and have educational value). Here’s a reposting for those without access to Storify:
There are a million things to process from the unrolling of the Camden school plan last night. From the straight line that divided a skeptical crowd (in bleachers) from a clapping aristocracy (seated at tables), to the presentation of the plan itself (which included some common sense initiatives like safe corridors and universal pre-k, while remaining ominously ambiguous about which schools would be closed and turned into charters), to the Machiavellian insistence that all should rally behind policy driven by ideology (and increasingly, a lack of good evidence) because it was “for the kids,” or that “a school is a school” and we shouldn’t care how it is governed. But it was NAACP Camden County Director Colandus “Kelly” Francis who gave me the most interesting line of the night. He said that this had all happened before. I expected him to tell me about school closings in Newark. Instead he told me about Virginia, where he grew up, and how in Prince Edward County, in 1959, the public schools were shut down for five years to avoid desegregation.
The strangest part of the Ed Reform movement has always been its tone-deaf insistence that it is the “civil rights” movement of our time. And yet, Kelly, and others, have often painted a very different picture to me in my research. Kelly never uttered the word “achievement gap.” What he did tell me was that the Prince Edward schools were closed for five years (from 1959-1964) while a bevy of private schools arose to serve white students. And that it was happening again; it is the schools in the low-income, minority neighborhoods that are being disproportionately closed and students in those communities who are being forced to travel to attend school (something few middle-class communities would stand for). There is very little precedent for trust.
This is the context of school closings in urban communities. An integrated school system was a critical component of civil rights. But school closings disproportionately affect poor, urban, minority communities, and the remaining blight from shuttered schools has brutal effects on their neighborhoods.
One of the ugliest parts of all of this is the democratic undertones. That such dramatic change to public institutions would happen while democratic powers were stripped from communities harkens back to an era when minorities had to depend on courts, not their officials, to protect them. And indeed, that was what NAACP leader Kelly Francis told me to expect. He cited the protection of the Mt. Laurel case by the New Jersey Supreme Court against attacks by Gov. Christie, and thought eventually the aggressive closing of institutions in urban and minority school districts would end up in the same place.
That is the context in which we should understand the responses I’m going to share with you. The context of history, of civil rights, of concurrent court battles to fight precedents like Mt. Laurel. The history of telling minorities what is best for them, while stripping them of democratic rights, isn’t good.
With that in mind, I want to share with you a quick social media round-up from the meeting (I’ve omitted the twitter recap, as it will be blocked anyway):
Share it!
The Corruption starts w george nor cross. His brother donald plays GOOD COP serving as George’s eyes and ears and reports back to George who pulls one of his many invisible strings to unleash his terror on whoever wrongs him or talks out about him
Brother Phil rewrites the laws so they can steal money from the poor kids ;in urban areas: Thus, he writes the URBAN HOPE ACT
They build HUD houses behind cooper and charge tons money and split profit those houses are NOT worth 360,000. they got federal grant money to build those houses and then charge buyers 200,000
further, the theft from kids in camden has been going on for years. 170 million dollar bailout by state of NJ ten years ago. None of the money in terms of jobs for people
NOW these power brokers Norcross and Christie and his Camden Officials all give out 2 BILLION in tax breaks to wealthy politically connected developers who DONT need the money but they never ever give jobs to people thus driving up crime HIRING more cops. Because of course CHIEF thompson plugged Norcross on national TV. Thompson gets an undeserved 68,000 raise though crime IS NOT down.
In every developing nation that has given jobs to people, birth rates have gone down, crime is way down, education is high, morals are high and depression is low w VIRTUALLY LITTLE DRUG USE.
but the drug use is SKY high in PA and NJ and a TON of money goes missing in both states (DRPA, SCHOOLS, NJ TURNPIKE etc) judges get picked by crooked bosses and one has to wonder: is someone causing this? Is it cooper hospital? is it the corrupt power brokers? why doesn’t any other state have sky high property taxes w nothing to show for it like NJ. We have become an over militarized police GESTAPO state. Whatever the Chief of police says gets handed to him by Norcross. A twisted, corrupt immoral selfish racist person. His whole family has done nothing for the people of camden but oppressed them.
but steal and then have the nerve to point the finger and unjustly arrest them and blame the poor blacks and puerto ricans for the MESS he has helped create along w christie and his rich friends who PAY people off for their silence.
I would like to set an independent meeting with you at your convenience. On the one occasion we had met, it was brief and in large crowd. There are some areas where you and the students can be of assistance to me and vice versa.