Public Employee Press

Former fan blasts charters

Union grapples with key issues at May 22 Education Forum


By JANE LaTOUR

Kicking off the union's Education Forum May 22, Political Director Wanda Williams said the all-day conference would help "build a coalition to provide a louder voice to fight for fairness in the school system."

DC 37 Executive Director Lillian Roberts greeted participants and pointed to the skewed nature of the ongoing charter school debate. "Every time I turn on the TV, they are presenting only one side of the issue," she said. "We need to examine all sides of the question. It's very important to understand the issues so we can fight to save our children and our communities," said Roberts, who noted the recent New York Times exposé of the investments of Wall Street billionaires in charter schools.

"We are here to discuss local and national education reform. We are honored to have so many experts and elected officials with us," said Veronica Montgomery-Costa, president of DC 37 and Local 372.

Montgomery-Costa pointed to the key role that renowned education expert Diane Ravitch is playing in the debate. "Diane Ravitch is a champion who is leading the fight. She's here to share her perspective on what's happening."

Fierce critic

Each participant received a copy of Dr. Ravitch's powerful new book, "The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice Are Undermining Education." The book shows the failure of policies Ravitch once supported in President George H.W. Bush's administration.

Thorough analysis of the results of the national focus on testing, vouchers and charter schools led Ravitch to change her mind. She is now a fierce and vocal critic of the charter schools favored by the Obama and Bloomberg administrations. In her talk, she deplored the constant focus on testing and cuts in curriculums that deprive children of music, art, literature, and foreign languages.

Ravitch told of her recent efforts to persuade members of Congress to change the direction of national education policy. "We are headed in the wrong direction, and we are going there fast," she said.

Expert voices

Ravitch had a sore throat and union attorney Audrey Browne delivered her talk, which charged that the current campaign to expand charter schools would undermine the U.S. public school system.

"Wouldn't it be wonderful if we had more instruction, more activities that awaken children's imagination, more time for questioning and debating and less for test prep?" she asked.

DC 37 Assistant Associate Director Henry Garrido pointed out the outrageous waste of the Education Dept.'s growing spending on outside consultants and the devastating impact that proposed budget cuts would have on neighborhood schools.

Dr. Adelaide Sanford, vice chancellor emerita of the New York State Board of Regents, asked, "Why hasn't education been a liberating experience for underserved populations?" she asked. "We can talk about the decline of the Education Department, but it's never been a great system for black children," she said.

The forum addressed many different aspects of the current crisis in education and stimulated a dynamic exchange among experts, union members, community leaders and politicians, including New York State Sen. Bill Perkins, City Council member Robert Jackson and State Assembly member Catherine Nolan.

As Dr. Ravitch said, "What happens to children today will determine the world we live in tomorrow."