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| Friends of Whitney Young High School |
Let me be clear.
I am a strong advocate for equitable, good schools. However, I believe that for decades, many public schools in
urban areas, have experienced neglect, disorganization, lack of
infrastructure, safety concerns and the like. Unfortunately, the suit being
brought forth by community activists from 15 cities (including my hometown and
yours of Chicago, as well as Philadelphia, where I currently reside) is without
merit, has the potential to be detrimental to educational reform for decades
and is not in the best interest of those with whom the plaintiffs think they are
defending – young children of color from urban neighborhoods in this country. (see: Education Department to Hear School Closing Complaints - NYT 1-29-13)
Here is the simple assertion, in many urban areas, poor
performing schools are concentrated, for the most part, in poor performing
neighborhoods. They are asymptomatic of bigger
structural inequalities which exist throughout, but are best exemplified
through the neighborhood school – specifically the high school since there are
fewer high schools than other types of public schools. Whether this is the “fault” of public schools
or public policy is open for debate and interpretation. What is clear is that as long as we have had public
schools in this country there has been inequality. The Supreme Court decision of Brown v Board
of Education in 1954 did not “end” inequality; it ended legalized segregation of
the races. Brown did not integrate
neighborhoods based on race, class or social standing. In fact, some would argue that Brown did the reverse;
it created inner cities which increasingly became populated with more people of
color as “white flight” took place. What
is not discussed openly at least in this country, is that in addition to “white
flight,” there was also class flight where middle class black and brown folk
also left these neighborhoods as soon as they were able to become “upwardly
mobile” with redlining and other restrictions being eliminated. 
So what does this all mean for the current state of
not just public education, but of urban areas in this country? We have now, in the wake of the increase in
accountability, social media and 24/7 news cycles, become incensed about a
problem which has been in the shadows of public policy for decades. Feigning indignation about this situation now
is being tardy to the situation at best, and at worse being, in the words of
Holden Caulfield, phony.
So Mr. Secretary, I implore you and Mr. Holder to
acknowledge that while school closings are not the most desirable situation,
they are an important component to restructuring and rebuilding infrastructures. Not just for
downsizing, or “right sizing” Districts, but also because after years of
persistent failure (even before the NCLB era), we cannot afford to continue to
do the same thing, change the chairs on the Titanic (by replacing
administrators, teachers and the like) and expect students (namely students of
color) to succeed.
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| Beverly Hills High pool/basketball court |
Change is hard.
That goes without saying. What
needs to be acknowledged openly is that schools are perhaps the last vestiges of
what used to be a cohesive, close knit community. Schools have served as beacons and anchors of
neighborhoods for decades, as in the decades of the 1950s and earlier. In many higher socio-economic and higher social strata communities, they still do – which is why their schools are not called into
question, or being closed. If there is a
“problem” in schools in those areas, the community possesses the social capital
to make change happen – both politically and economically. In many urban school districts however, those
conditions of social capital change does not exist. Instead, these schools have
been persistently, slowly eroding ever since the tumultuous 1960s and
1970s.
How long, not long.
How long must we wait to create not just surface change, but long lasting
meaningful change that, in the short term, may hurt, may be an affront to our “normal
way of doing things,” but in the long run has the potential to transform
lives? Clearly the current structures and
systems are inadequate and not working.
Why not take a chance and work together to not fight the closures, but
to make sure that they never happen again by supporting good public schools
from their inception. Not only do we
need “school reform” we need a serious discussion and commitment to “neighborhood
reform” as well. In order to achieve
change, we need to eliminate these types of frivolous, attention grabbing law
suits, and being the difficult task of working together.
Sincerely yours,
Stuart Rhoden
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