New York moms and dads are set to make history today: They’ll be out on the streets — by the thousands — deploring the pathetic state of Gotham’s public schools.
They want change. Big, bold change. More power to them.
For too long, the city’s kids, particularly poor and minority children, have been sold short.
They and their families are told that New York’s rotten public schools are simply the best the city can offer.
That without more money (which will never arrive), schools can’t improve. That change might come eventually, but too late for their kids. That (most disgusting) the children just aren’t smart enough to learn.
What an ugly pack of lies. As charter-school CEO Eva Moskowitz notes on the adjacent page, poor and minority kids thrive in some schools (like hers). Yet children with similar profiles in nearby schools, run by bureaucrats and unions, languish.
The difference isn’t the kids, but the schools. “My child isn’t failing,” writes Ebony Burrowes, a mom of a 9-year-old at PS 306, in another Post column today. “Our school system is.”
Nor do these parents see grounds for hope from the de Blasio team. On Wednesday, Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña gave a “major” policy speech. Her big reform? Scrapping the letter grades schools get. How exactly will that help students?
The thousands of moms and dads at today’s rally will be joined by teachers, principals and ordinary citizens who care about city schools. The event starts at 9:15 a.m. at Foley Square.
You might want to join them, and help make history.