         Call for Emergency Legislation on School Closures Council Members Barry and Thomas are considering introducing emergency legislation that would require community and council input before any school closures occur. PLEASE EMAIL OR CALL THEM URGING THEM TO INTRODUCE THIS EMERGENCY LEGISLATION ASAP! mbarry@dccouncil.us 202 724-8045 hthomas@dccouncil.us, 202 724-8028 SOS Response to the School Closures Public
school supporters are rightly outraged about the plans to close some 2
dozen neighborhood schools without community input. We're all running
around trying to figure out how to slow down the closures, but we have
to get ready for Phase II: what is planned for the schools that remain
open. Last week Gates Foundation exec. and board of trustees member for
E.L. Haynes Charter School Jim Shelton had a dinner party for Rhee
attended by Jenny Niles, CEO of E.L. Haynes, Tom Nida, the chair of the
"Public" Charter School Board, Mr. and Mrs. Fenty, Meddling Mary
Landrieu, Sam Brownback, and a Republican congressman from Ohio (don't
forget, charters and for-profit emos like White Hat Management ran
roughshod over many Ohio districts; the Dayton debacle helped us
understand more fully what's happening here in DC). All of these
characters have been pushing charter schools and other privatization
schemes at the local and national level for years.
Rhee has been jetting around the country, "begging" (her words, not mine, as reported last week in the Sacremento Bee) charter operators and other EMOS to come in and take over the schools that are left. We need to remind the community, Rhee & Co., and public officials that when Rhee first arrived she promised to deal with the October Surprise and to "compete" with the charters to bring students back into DCPS. Instead, we're looking at the outright theivery -- of public money and our children to parasitic charter schools that last year cost the city more than $250 million.The human cost can't be reckoned. This state of affairs must be addressed in the context of the proposed closures and this is precisely where SOS needs to focus our efforts.We have already done the research and anaylysis, and now is the time to reignite our public information campaign by using the upcoming community meetings. We need your help! If you are interested alerting the community to the danger of charter schools and privatization, send an email to us at info@saveourschoolsdc.org or call us at 202-521-0377. |