Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Scorched earth policies in the closings of schools

Check out my latest on the Huffington Post: Parents, students and civil rights advocates protest the mass closings of public schools:

Instead of strengthening our neighborhood schools, that have for
generations accepted and served a variety of students, and providing resources and reforms like smaller classes that have been proven to work, officials are pursuing a
scorched earth policy - as during the Vietnam war, when the military claimed they were forced to destroy
villages in order to save them.

Also:

Some day these misconceived policies will be recognized as the
educational equivalent of practices pursued by civic authorities the 1950's and 1960's to remake entire neighborhoods in the name of "urban renewal" and "slum clearance.


Also read the NAACP's oped in today's Daily News, in support of their lawsuit to block the school closings.