Inner-City Kids and Public Education



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johnkarls
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Joined: Fri Jun 29, 2007 8:43 pm

Inner-City Kids and Public Education

Post by johnkarls »

In my own “I Have A Dream”® program that served 200 kids in housing projects, and in “I Have A Dream”® programs around the country when I served as the volunteer treasurer for the national “I Have A Dream”® foundation (please see “Background Context for John Karls’ essays), public education was a challenge to say the least.

(1) Many teachers will corner your Dreamers their very first day of Kindergarten and tell them essentially – “You are no good – I know your older brother/sister and they were no good also – I am going to keep my eye on you until you drop out!!!”

(2) Your Dreamers are almost invariably placed their first day of Kindergarten into “Special Ed” which, in most areas of the country, is a euphemism for non-college-track holding pens for inner-city kids until they drop out. Your Project Coordinator has to fight the administration to have your Dreamers placed in regular classes!!!

(3) Among other things, “Special Ed” is a way of achieving segregation within a school building that is integrated only in the sense that two different populations that never meet are housed under the same roof.

(4) And please keep in mind that your Dreamers already perceive themselves as ineligible for their dreams because they are black (please see the essay "Perceptions of Inner-City 5-Year-Olds!!!").

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When you consider all four points (and there are often others as well), you are not surprised that many IHAD sponsors around the country have opened charter schools to serve their Dreamers. And that most sponsors favor school vouchers (1) to help finance the charter school they have established for their Dreamers, or (2) if the sponsor was unable to open a charter school, to help the Dreamers escape to a performing/functioning school.

It is also disappointing that the Democratic Party is so closely aligned with teachers’ unions.

The perception of inner-city residents is that the “limousine liberals” are once again “screwing the base” – and that perception quite often boils over into attacking liberal Democrats who oppose school vouchers, particularly when the liberal Democrat’s own children are in private schools.

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