My Quarals with the American School System

I wrote this about a month ago, and I haven't posted it.  Didn't really think that it went along with this blog as I rambled on and on about my views of the public school system.  However, these issues remain in my heart as being issues that people need to be aware of.  Also, this is my blog and I can write about what ever I want to write.  With that said, everything is a "work in process."  So, as I read, study,  and gain more insight, I really hope to add this to my book "Little Black Boy."

Forgive the mistakes, I did not proof read this . . . I did not complete because this will be a later project . . .

 August
(Your being set Up)
The School System

I want to talk about what happened last week on Being Mary Jane . . . 

Last week on being Mary Jane, Mary Jane went out into the field to do a story on an urban high school that was going to be turned into a Charter school.  If you are not familiar with the show, Mary Jane is a gorgeous, strong, independent, and successful African American female news anchor from Georgia.  She sits in the co-anchor chair of a popular morning tv show, broadcasting from one of the most prestigious stations in New York City.  She has a mind of her own as she takes a strong stand on equal rights and advocates for black progress.

I wanted to talk about the "Being Mary Jane" episode that aired last Tuesday on BET, 8-15-2017.  It really hit home and touched on one of the reasons why I am writing this blog:  The American School System.

I felt that the show which aired on August the 15th, painted a pretty good picture of things that are going on across this country.  The gravity of the situation seems to be so dismal that one might convince himself that this could not possibly be happening in our country.

I think people don't really realize what is going on in our urban school systems today.  There are underground tactics which are increasingly evil and more bold then ever.  Kozol wrote about these things about thirty years ago in books like "Ordinary Resurrections," and "Amazing Grace,"  as an observer of such modern day segregation and racists sabotage.   It seems like no one is doing anything about crooks stealing from our children.  The idea of people caring about our urban youth is almost unheard of, or perhaps, it's just not being promoted because then that would mean a promotion of hope.  I pray that people start waking up and listening to the problems that I am about to present in this post.

This was the situation in the show: The main high school in the school district was going to be sold to a charter school system.  The parents were protesting the sale because they were concerned for their children's education.  Mary Jane was broadcasting live from the scene and because she was out in the field, her anchor chair was being filled by someone who held an uninformed view of the Charter School System.  This person gave the impression, during an interview with a board member, that the Charter School was the solution for the failing high school.  The view point projected and communicated to the watching public was that it was the best move for the community.  

Meanwhile, the media feed that was covering the high school showed the reaction of the parents towards this interview.  The view seen on air conveyed an old stereo type of  "angry black ignorant mob starting trouble again."  The situation that arose was a riot of sorts.  The crowd of angry parents and students, not being heard or respected for their concerns, got into physical confrontations with  law enforcement.  The media twisted the truth once again, and the mob was shown as disrespectful, non-compliant, and dangerous. 

'They' have the money to control the media. 

The example above was just from a show, but this happens every day in our media.  It is all propaganda.  Not many people know what is going on.  It is easy for people to believe what they see with their eyes.  A voice over convinces us that it's explanation of what is going on, is the truth about what is really going on.  You probably think that this whole thing is just a pretty good story line for a BET show . . .

Sorry to inform you that you are in the Matrix! 

Do you choose the blue pill or the red pill?

But now I know all too well that the media portrays the views of those liars who are in control of the system.  The schools are not failing by mismanagement,  the system is not failing because of mismanagement.  The school system is set up exactly the way it is supposed to be set up. The system was set up to fail.  Everything is working according to plan.

In the show, the students didn't have the necessary classes on their roster in order to graduate.  The story sounded all too familiar to me.  I  would suppose that the students wouldn't graduate if they didn't have a teacher to teach them.  In the school district I worked for, they laid off the teachers.   The students felt there was no need to go to school because there wasn't much school to attend.  The drop out rates were high because the students felt themselves more useful getting jobs to help support their struggling families.  Older siblings leaving their education endeavors to perhaps provide a better chance for their younger siblings to finish school or at the very least have something to eat over the weekend.

Of course, we on the outside hear about the "failing schools," and  "the failing districts," but is anyone using their critical thinking to solve the real problems?  Do we continue to be bullied into the Charter School Nightmare or do we push back and tell the media to stop pissing on me and telling me it's raining?

Drawing parallels from the show, leads me to discuss that many schools in my district didn't offer the classes the students needed to graduate.  Why? Because they didn't have enough teachers!  Of course graduation rates will be low and the school would be labeled as failing. So the question to ask is who is responsible for firing the teachers.  Who is responsible for budgeting the money for these students to have access to the required course work?  Who is responsible for this?

In the show,  One student complained that she had three study halls and a lunch.  It would take her six years to graduate by the rate she was going . . .

In real life, just like in the show,  I came from a school district labeled as failing. Just like in the show, the media loves to blame the administration and school board for poor management of education funds.  The truth is however, the real "powers that be" have been stealing that money for years.  There was at one point that $600 million that went missing from our school district which was uncovered by an investigative report.  It was in the news, it was in the paper.  Mysteriously, the story faded away in the abyss of cover ups from generations past.  No explanation was ever told about what happened with that money.  Why did the story disappear?  Simple;  if the media stops talking about it, it's like it never happened.

Big business has found their way into the school system again.  Today, they came up with a more efficient and unregulated way to steal the money from  education, it is called the Charter Schools.

Now, the lie that they tell is that these urban schools are failing.  Propaganda says that they need help because test scores are low and graduation rates are deplorable.  The truth is that they are stealing money and making them fail on purpose.  And so many people are brainwashed to think that it is all our fault.  That poor people want to remain poor.

I can tell you from first hand experience that the State came into our school system in Camden New Jersey and set things upside down.  Teachers were losing their jobs left and right.  Administrative offices and Human resource workers were being demoted.  The State moved all their people in and all of our people out.  We would put in complaints to our union representatives and never receive responses.  The union would claim that they heard everything was working out well in Camden.  Board meetings would be held behind doors; parents and concerned teachers would wait for hours for them to come out.  No solution was being met about the schools they were closing.  No one really seemed to care.

Schools were closing left and right with explanations like:  The buildings are too old and the children are failing . . .

Lies, Lies, Lies!!

I can tell you that my little elementary school was very successful.  We had students receiving perfect scores on the New Jersey ASK.  Many of our students were A-B students, involved in the community and growing into respectable young men and young women.  All the staff were very shocked to learn that our school was going to be closing, it was going to become a charter school. . .

Sorry to inform you that we have been set up. 

Let me explain how they steal the money:

Maybe another time . . . but I do know things, the whole process is pretty sad.  But God did say they lie because they love their money.  The devise all types of plans because their hearts are evil and they have no conscious.