Camden

From my lost files...

Last night I read a blog post about our sister city, Camden, just over the bridge in New Jersey. As an urban center, deeply entrenched in poverty, drugs, and violence, their public schools face many of the same struggles that urban public schools face across the nation, including Philadelphia.

There is a lot that saddens me when it comes to our government's treatment of the one establishment that can be everyone's ticket to some sense of normalcy and stability as they mature into adulthood.
This establishment, public schools, could give every child hope, help every kid realize a dream, aid every youth in achieving a goal, and put every young person on a path toward active democracy and a productive life!

But, in America, where money does more talking than one's lips, it's a lopsided system. Big money and the politicians it buys, want the destruction of public schools and the organizations that bring together teachers who have dedicated their lives in service of teaching and helping young people.
In America, where in areas that have the least, big money becomes bigger money as money-hungry hippos see opportunities to feed their fat faces with the sale of magical curricula and tests and where publicly funded, philanthropically-backed, privately managed, politically connected, media loved charter schools are the panacea of the day.

No conversation needs to be had or agreed upon about working conditions, salaries, benefits, or anything. They know what's best. No agreement needs to be discussed about what they will do and what the teachers will do. They tell the teachers what they'll do, how they'll do, when they'll do and when that happens and the results they want aren't realized, they very obedient underpaid teacher gets shown the door. End of "conversation."

Camden, you fight! You fight with all the power and strength that is in you to fight. Your state education superintendent's mind may already be made up. He already has the blessing of the governor. But you don't go down without a fight!!! Band together and let the world know that the goings-on in Camden are undemocratic and against the will of those who know kids best!!!