Written by Rosita Chatonda
In Chicago since REN 2010 there has been a purge of 200,000 African Americans, 50,000 African American Students and the loss of over 50% of African American Teachers, dropping from 40.6 to 19.5 today. Since the late 90's , when Jackie Vaughn was president, African American teachers were 54% of an over 30,000 member union, approximately 17,000 strong. Now we are down to 4,600 with 16 schools closing in the African American community this year. If we are blessed at the end of the year, we may have 2,500 teachers servicing the needs of a 45% African American student population. The irony is that all other minority teacher and student populations have increased population except African Americans. Although white veteran teachers are under attack as well , their teacher population remains stable.
With Chicago being the model for school reform, this agenda has been implemented nationally via Race Too The Top and Arne Duncan. The impact of all of this educational upheaval has caused African American communities to suffer with horrific consequences. Since teachers are the largest number of professionals in the community and generally are the foundation for upward mobility in there families, joblessness, foreclosures, homelessness, suicide, death from having inadequate insurance, children having to return from college are consequences to this hate filled agenda and much more. Community, please wake up. This is our Selma, It's our Birmingham.
The truth of the matter is that there is a national hidden agenda related to the purge of minority communities from large urban school districts. This has nothing to do with improving education for scores of minority students who have been so egregiously undeserved in the public education system in large urban districts in America. The data constantly reveal no improvement in academic achievement, but CPS continues to implement failed strategies designed specifically to undermine the integrity of school communities that serve minorities by implementing cheap education through charters. (Notice how all the charters are in minority communities). Communities that they feel deserve low quality, cheap education dressed up with an abundance of resources and little or no improvement in education. This is a move to purge and cleanse the school system of people that those in the system feel are undeserving. That includes minority students, teachers and a few administrators who will not participate and help facilitate the demise of their own communities. The evidence of this attack on minority communities culminates with data.
ReplyDeleteIn Chicago since REN 2010 there has been a purge of 200,000 African Americans, 50,000 African American Students and the loss of over 50% of African American Teachers, dropping from 40.6 to 19.5 today. Since the late 90's , when Jackie Vaughn was president, African American teachers were 54% of an over 30,000 member union, approximately 17,000 strong. Now we are down to 4,600 with 16 schools closing in the African American community this year. If we are blessed at the end of the year, we may have 2,500 teachers servicing the needs of a 45% African American student population. The irony is that all other minority teacher and student populations have increased population except African Americans. Although white veteran teachers are under attack as well, their teacher population remains stable.
With Chicago being the model for school reform, this agenda has been implemented nationally via Race To The Top and Arne Duncan. The impact of all of this educational upheaval has caused African American communities to suffer with horrific consequences. Since teachers are the largest number of professionals in the community and generally are the foundation for upward mobility in their families, joblessness, foreclosures, homelessness, suicide, death from having inadequate insurance, children having to return from college are consequences to this hate filled agenda and much more. Community, please wake up. This is our Selma, It's our Birmingham.