Hodges: NY to close 19 schools
EDITOR’S COMMENTARY
NEW YORK JOINS KANSAS CITY IN SCHOOL CLOSING PARTY, by Wayne Hodges
NEW YORK – Somebody. Please. Say it isn’t so. It appears the plague affecting the Kansas City School District has reared its ugly head on the east coast. Reports indicate New York City is in the process of closing a mind-boggling 19 public schools simply because they’re under-performing. Kansas City’s contraction plan calls for the closure of an unprecedented 26 schools due to over-extended resources accompanied by a nasty $50 million budget shortfall. The difference? Kansas City has 61 schools. New York has over 1,600. Unlike KC, the proposal in New York is being met with vicious legal opposition from teachers, city officials and the NAACP.
Word on the street is the closings, which are expected to take place inside urban communities, will hurt Black and Hispanic students the most. Nevertheless, proponents of the closings argue contraction is inevitable. And there’s certainly enough proof to support this claim. Check this out. Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Corporate Academy (MCA) lacks a library, a cafeteria, and a gymnasium; which begs the question: “Why the hell is this school open in the first place?” As a matter of fact, most of the schools on the “Hit List” are mired in a multitude of detestable conditions not conducive to productive learning.
Stephon Adams, a junior at MCA, believes apathy has already set in. “Most of (the students) have dropped out of high school because they feel people don’t care,” said Adams. “How am I gonna make it when I don’t understand what I’m doing and what is my purpose here anymore?” Although conditions must improve, I still believe students should be able to obtain quality education in the neighborhoods they live. Think about it. If we’ve come to the conclusion kids must be commuted to the suburbs in order to achieve scholastic greatness; society, as we know it, is in deep trouble.
The NAACP believes the closings will hurt Black & Hispanic students the most
The circumstances surrounding the closings are undisputed. Nobody will argue that. Charter schools, lack of parent participation and state mandated budget cuts are all partially responsible. As a byproduct, the genocide of our nation’s once proud public school system is imminent. Here’s what’s tricky: Can charter schools deliver as our nation’s primary source of urban education? The question certainly has merit. For instance, I was told by an educator a charter school in Kansas City offered free Nintendo Wii systems to new students as gifts for their enrollment. You heard me right. A Nintendo “frickin” Wii in exchange for student enrollment. Seriously, whose the genius responsible for this marketing strategy?
Folks, there’s no getting around it. The plight of our nation’s public school system has gained full momentum. How did we, the people, allow this to happen? A couple weeks ago, the Kansas City Star released an article hinting students of color are traditionally more productive in predominant white classrooms. Ouch! And that’s just the Genesis of this debacle. There’s plenty more. Teachers, regardless of tenure, are getting laid off in record numbers; many forced to fend for themselves in a scarce job market. Communities are being torn apart.
And college graduates, aspiring to become educators, are equipped with degrees that remain practically worthless in today’s declining teacher’s market. This may not be fair. But, I gotta say it. In the end, the Obama Administration could end up with a huge black eye unless the scholastic climate changes radically for the better. Who knows? Contraction might work. Massive school closings may prove successful down the stretch. Public education could rebound beyond expectations. However, as of this very moment, the future of public academics doesn’t look very promising.
The scholastic forecast calls for more thunder storms, contraction, heavy rain and lightning with no sunshine in sight; especially true for urban communities. I feel sorry for President Barack Obama. The Gulf Oil Spill, the recession, controversial immigration laws, high unemployment rates, and the impending public school crisis have made this one rocky year for our Commander-in-Chief. The price to pay to become our nation’s first African-American president appears too punitive in hindsight.
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Wayne Hodges, an MBA from St. Mary University, is the editor of “Mass Appeal News.” He is also a candidate for Kansas Senate District #7, an adjunct professor, and MPA at Kansas University. Wayne welcomes your comments at whodges@massappealnews.com
For more coverage of New York’s school closings, click the play arrow.
June 23rd, 2010 at 5:49 am
wayne great article! it is sad to see other cities going through what we are going through in KC. I hope closing schools dont become a trend. it might be time to start thinking home school.
June 23rd, 2010 at 7:01 am
hodge im not surprised by the schools being closed. the hillbillies in charge dont believe blacks and mexicans can function without they help anyway. this is all a scam to make people of color remain dependent on them. dont get sidetracked by the HNICs. they hire blacks as TOKENS to spear head the operations to dodge discrimination law suits. this s*** aint over. this is just the calm before the storm
June 23rd, 2010 at 8:43 am
School funding formulas are based on the assessed valuation of the local property (residential and business) within the boundaries of that district. It is also subsidized by the state on a per-pupil basis. What does this mean? Well, for one it means that instead of assuming the “hillbillies and HNIC’s” have anything to do with the situation the district finds itself in, we should instead explore why previous, current and potential home owners and business owners do not want to live or invest in the community that encomapsses the KCMO District boundaries. If you care, take a look at the residential population of the city (KCMO) and you’ll see a steady decline over the past 20 years. The same trend can be seen in student enrollment in the KCMO School district, yet until now the board administration hasn’t had the courage or politial will to make the tough fiscal decisions required as a result. In business, if your revenues have continually declined, your budget and expenditures must be reduced as well. Public school funding is no different and this is where I think the argument or outrage is misplaced by most people who only consider the effect and not the underlying cause! If the buidling is have empty with less than 15-20 students per class room and you still must pay insurance, utilities and personnel costs for a facilty that has a capacity of 1300 students, why wouldn’t you close the school and consider selling the asset? As a school district, you can’t be responsible for cleaning up the city and making it attractive for investors and potential home owners with children, your job is to simply educate the ones that show up. It is unfortunate that kids will have to be bused to neighboring schools, but that is when as a homeowner you consider what decisions you need to make!
June 23rd, 2010 at 8:46 am
Some additonal perspective on the history of the KCMO School District can be found in the research project conducted by the CATO Institute: http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa-298.html
June 23rd, 2010 at 8:55 am
That’s not simplistic to me. Those schools get money for just existing. If they are not doing what they are supposed to do, then spread that money elsewhere. Don’t look at the number of schools but what’s the impact. How is it impacting the kids and the community? That is the question.
June 23rd, 2010 at 1:02 pm
Gotta agree with Marlon. We shouldnt make this a racial matter. White kids go to urban schools too. This is not about color, its about $$$. Every school district is under the gun to cut the budget. Urban schools are easy convenient targets because these schools are losing money. Like Marlon says we need to find out why people dont want to live in the urban core first and fix it.
June 24th, 2010 at 8:38 am
We got to get back to putting more importance on education. We are doing our children a huge disservice. They will not be ready to assume leadership.
June 24th, 2010 at 11:15 am
I’m still conviced that various state legislatures around the country are shoving “School Choice” down the throats of urban school districts,in an effort to take away funding from public school districts.I’m seeing a round about effort so white people can take back urban areas,since the suburbs ain’t working out for them,what with wildfires,animal attacks and the transportation costs of living out in the boondocks,in an effort to get away from us has backfired