February 28, 2008
Parents vs. Rhee (Again)
Last night, D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee hosted yet another community meeting to receive feedback concerning schools scheduled for closure due to low-enrollment and poor building conditions. The Post reports that only about 100 people attended the meeting, which was held specifically to discuss the four schools that were added to a revised list earlier this month.
Rhee told the Post why some schools were added to the closure list and others reprieved, citing outdated building design, level of academic success, and availability of resources like athletic fields. The closures would save the city $23 million, which would be used to improve academics and boost staffing at the remaining schools.
Parents who testified last night were mostly critical of the closures, using language like, “they want to take away education” and comparing the closures to “taking a seed out of the ground that's already been planted.” Maybe no one explained that students would attend different schools in the same neighborhoods?
Rhee’s office has now held ten community meetings and 23 public hearings on the school closures, and made a transparent effort to incorporate community feeling into her revised closures plan. Even Ward 8 Council member Marion Barry, who initially rallied against the closures, has come around, calling them, “a victory for our children.” In a system as large and complex as D.C. public schools, Rhee will never be able to please everyone, and shouldn’t have to, but stories like this indicate some people will always be more interested in feeding controversy than giving her a chance to change the status quo.
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Of course only a hundred or so people showed up, Rhee conveniently scheduled the meeting the same night as "Deal or No Deal" and "Bionic Woman"! How can the Fenty administration expect citizen feedback when they use such underhanded meeting scheduling tactics!
Wait, CM Barry, relying on "power to the people" rhetoric, stoked up opposition to a proposal only to fall in line to support it once it became clear it would pass with or without him? Shocking.
oh christ, i wish the whiners would shove it, and i hope this is the last of this mess. just close the damn schools and start the restructuring process.
as my mom would say, "shit or get off the pot!"
Barry's total 180 on this is just awesome! He milked it for all it was worth to show once again that he's got street cred. And once it was clear this thing wasn't going to stop because of his "people power", he joins the bandwagon and declares victory! Once again leaving high and dry anyone who had hoped he would be with them until the bitter end.
Lmao.....the parents sound so dumb...they want to maintain a system thats failed for like 30 plus years..unbelievable...
It's not about the system, it's about ownership. You know, "They want to shut down MY school? My momma's-momma, my momma, and I all went to that school and no way are you shutting it down!"
It probably sucked way back in the day, but it *belonged* to the community.
A couple of comments from the WaPo from anti-Rhee forces:
"I feel it's ridiculous for everybody to preach about education, and they want to take away education."
and:
"Adrian Fenty needs to resign...he has sold out to Michael Bloomberg and allow New York to Control and govern D.C.resident's lives."
Yep, clearly DC needs education reform...
I think it's easy to be flippant about the school closures if you don't have children in the school system (which from these flippant comments, I'm assuming you don't). Yes, the system has been failing for a long time and yes, it obviously needs overhaul. But this kind of school system reform takes about 7 years and it's difficult to accept these kind of changes when your child is in the middle of it now. I'm not saying I disagree- because obviously the schools are highly under-enrolled, and consolidating schools in the same neighborhoods makes sense. Clearly, big changes need to happen.
At the same time, I think mocking the parents for being upset with Rhee is ignorant and unfair. The bottom line is, her team chose schools to close without any parental input. When the list was subsequently leaked, they asked for parental input at these meetings, but the feeling among parents/activists is that it's too little, too late. Rhee would have been much more political and would have less anger now if she at least gave the impression of gathering community input before the list was decided on. Don't judge people for being angry that their schools are closing.
@dcluci:
"The bottom line is, her team chose schools to close without any parental input."
Actually, most of those schools have been in the closure cross-hairs for many years. Fenty's not the first mayor to propose school closings, this isn't the first round of hearings, and this certainly isn't this isn't the first time parents have been asked. It's just that he's actually doing it.
"But this kind of school system reform takes about 7 years and it's difficult to accept these kind of changes when your child is in the middle of it now."
"Don't judge people for being angry that their schools are closing."
Right. That's the hard part. But, without it, schools will continue to bleed students, and students will continue to bleed in the streets. It's really that simple. And most parents understand that. Myself included.
I agree with dcluci. The comments on this thread seem to be to be unneccesarily harsh and judgemental. True, the schools do need to be consolidated. But, there are legitimate community concerns. For example, if Clark Elementary in Petworth is closed, all students currently attending will have to cross Georgia Ave to attend Webster Elementary.
I am happy to see parents involved in the political process. I wish more would do so.