NAACP vs Black Parents

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Here's something you don't see everyday. Thousands of American blacks held a rally in Harlem last week to protest . . . the NAACP.

The New York state chapter of the civil rights organization and the United Federation of Teachers, the local teachers union, have filed a lawsuit to stop the city from closing 22 of Gotham's worst schools. The lawsuit also aims to block the city from giving charter schools space to operate in buildings occupied by traditional public schools.

Protesters at the rally, which included parents and charter school operators like Geoffrey Canada of the Harlem Children's Zone, urged the NAACP to withdraw from the suit. But Hazel Dukes, president of the state NAACP chapter, is unpersuaded. Using the kind of language more readily associated with past opponents of black civil rights, Ms. Dukes said that critics of the lawsuit "can march and have rallies all day long. . . . We will not respond."

What schoolhouses is Ms. Dukes standing in the doorway to protect? Well, at the Academy for Collaborative Education, one of the Harlem schools that the city wants to close, only 3% of students were performing at grade level in English last year, and only 9% in math. At Columbus High School in the Bronx, another school slated for closure, the four-year graduation rate in 2009 was 40%, versus a citywide average of 63%, and less than 10% of special education students graduated on time.

The teachers union wants to keep these abysmal schools open to preserve jobs for their members. This is bad enough. But the union and NAACP also want to limit better educational options for low-income families who can't afford private schools and can't afford to move to an affluent neighborhood with decent public schools. The union knows that in a place like New York City, where space is at a premium, blocking charters from operating in public buildings will hamper charter growth.

If the lawsuit succeeds, the awful schools will remain open to damage another generation of children. If you want to know why the NAACP has become irrelevant to the lives of African-Americans, this typical display of moral indifference to the plight of minority children is Exhibit A.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303745304576361630636338492.html

[one...two...tree 2,762]

If the lawsuit succeeds, the awful schools will remain open to damage another generation of children.

Good Lord...

[lostinblue 1,989]

Good Lord...

A recent Manhattan Institute study — authored by Tim Considine, an energy economist at the University of Wyoming, and Robert Watson, chairman of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection’s Oil and Gas Technical Advisory Board — estimates that if New York followed Pennsylvania’s lead and dropped its drilling moratorium, the economic benefits could be enormous.

By 2015, the state could enjoy $1.7 billion in added economic activity, 16,000 more jobs and $214 million in extra tax revenue if its natural gas reserves were developed. From 2011 to 2020, New York could gain $11.4 billion in economic output, 90,000 to 108,000 new jobs and $1.4 billion in tax revenues.

Just think of all the poor black children that would be in a better school if natural gas drilling would be permited in ny state

[Danno 1,228]

A recent Manhattan Institute study — authored by Tim Considine, an energy economist at the University of Wyoming, and Robert Watson, chairman of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection’s Oil and Gas Technical Advisory Board — estimates that if New York followed Pennsylvania’s lead and dropped its drilling moratorium, the economic benefits could be enormous.

By 2015, the state could enjoy $1.7 billion in added economic activity, 16,000 more jobs and $214 million in extra tax revenue if its natural gas reserves were developed. From 2011 to 2020, New York could gain $11.4 billion in economic output, 90,000 to 108,000 new jobs and $1.4 billion in tax revenues.

Just think of all the poor black children that would be in a better school if natural gas drilling would be permited in ny state

But are we still chasing the hope that a "better school" is the miracle cure?

We saw in D.C. what happens when someone actually tries to "change" things in a broken system.

[_Simpson_ 250]

A misleading thread clearly created to draw attention.

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A misleading thread clearly created to draw attention.

Misleading in what way? Both title and content are verbatim WSJ.

[Ban Hammer 12,853]

they just need to raise taxes more and throw more money at those schools.

[Kathryn41 3,205]

Post containing personal attack and one quoting it have been removed. There are better ways to phrase a comment that don't violate TOS.

Edited June 26, 2011 by Kathryn41

[Darnell 8,478]

Slash-G - I think it's time for you to join the NAACP - you qualify (seriously) and I think you'd be doing some good with the backroom lobbyist actions. They need you, for this specific activity - just think of the changes you could facilitate, the money you could raise?

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

Slash-G - I think it's time for you to join the NAACP - you qualify (seriously) and I think you'd be doing some good with the backroom lobbyist actions. They need you, for this specific activity - just think of the changes you could facilitate, the money you could raise?

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

they just need to raise taxes more and throw more money at those schools.

I'd argue that it won't matter how good a school you put there or how much money you throw at any school. A school won't ever replace broken homes and families that don't make the education of their children a priority. Just won't happen. The success of child starts and ends with the child's family. Simple, really.

[_Simpson_ 250]

Misleading in what way? Both title and content are verbatim WSJ.

Your right,sorry. After clicking on the link I realized that that indeed was the title of the article.

[B_J 2,752]

I'd argue that it won't matter how good a school you put there or how much money you throw at any school. A school won't ever replace broken homes and families that don't make the education of their children a priority. Just won't happen. The success of child starts and ends with the child's family. Simple, really.

+1

[Danno 1,228]

I'd argue that it won't matter how good a school you put there or how much money you throw at any school. A school won't ever replace broken homes and families that don't make the education of their children a priority. Just won't happen. The success of child starts and ends with the child's family. Simple, really.

I couldn't agree more, why do we allow this suggestion of "They just need better funding to solve the problem" to go on and on?

All the while, the problem grows worse and the solutions more difficult.

[Ken y Leidys 20]

Under what criteria are these schools deemed failing? What actions did the NAACP actually take specifically? What are the testing scores and data used to support that these schools are failing in correlation with those of the surrounding public and charter schools?

Charter schools typically have scores that are slightly higher than those of Public schools, but they do not serve the Severely Disabled populations in their respective community-based schools.

Yes, I am a Union member.