This is a good one. As usual, it helps if you
read the article first:
The Bush administration yesterday proposed
nearly $500 million in federal funding to help displaced private school students
from the Gulf Coast enroll in private schools elsewhere in the aftermath of
Hurricane Katrina.
So. You wake up one morning, and the
government's telling you to evacuate. You're a 4th grader, so this is a pretty
strange and scary endeavor. You and your family pack up what's important in the
lexus (flatscreen TV, baby pictures, clothes, purebred dog, Thomas Kinkade
paintings... and don't forget the iPods). You get in the car, and watch DVDs for
10 hours, which is getting pretty boring. And apparently mommy and daddy aren't
getting too far with their driving because of the traffic. So eventually
sometime later that day, you arrive at grandma's house. In the next two days,
mommy and daddy tell you that the house is gone, all of your stuff (including
race-car bed) is either gone or will have to be thrown away from water damage.
But that's okay- mommy and daddy have insurance, so they'll be buying you a
brand new race-car bed... or even a big boy bed if you want it. Next week, mommy
and daddy realize that you're not going to school anymore. But the only places
that are prepared to take on a new student immediately are public schools-
there's no St. Ignatius near grandma's house. So you go to public schools for
the first day, and the kids don't talk like you, or act like you, or look like
you. Some of them smell funny, some of them look like they haven't ever been to
chuck-e-cheese's in their entire lives. Obviously this is a scary environment to
you, so you tell mommy and daddy how strange it was when you get home that day.
And they're outraged.
What's wrong with
this? Probably nothing but parents who are concerned about their children
*having* to go to public schools for a while. To think that putting a child in a
private school that is completely different from any school they've ever known
is functionally different from putting a child in a public school that is also
completely different is... simple stupidity. Considering the weight of what just
happened, the amount of real learning that is going to happen for these
displaced and confused children is not going to be measurable. So, what, might
you ask, is the purpose of making sure your kid goes to a private school? I'm
going to step out on a limb here- classism and racism. I don't see any other
reason. The children are going to have to be confused and unhappy with their
surroundings, things are going to be really difficult for a while
no matter where they
go. A complete change of surroundings is going
to effect rich and poor alike, and honestly, for most little kids, having
strange new kids in their class and a strange new teacher isn't going to be any
worse if the kids are black. And if it is uncomfortable to adjust? So be it!
Some of the largest persisting cultural problems we have in this country are
caused by a lack of cultural understanding across class and race boundaries. If
only the poor could gain legitimacy in the eyes of the rich, and vice versa, our
ability to network with eachother would increase, and new business partnerships
and ideas would come out- ones that benefit both ends of the social structure.
But apparently this situation is just
too uncomfortable for Bush and his followers. Mommy and daddy might have to
question their country club membership fees once they meet Mr. and Ms. Smith-
two great (and low income) parents of a black child their son has become good
friends with. They might even have to question how much they donate to the
Republican party next year when they discover that "trickle down economics"
really
wasn't
all the jazz to the welfare receiving, working
public.
Perhaps what is most disturbing
here is that, after Bush took the blame for having allowed a horrible disaster
of misplaced, misappropriated and mismanaged aid to occur, he has brought this
proposal out- a modification to a bill that adds a very clear benefit to the
wealthy, and absolutely nothing for the poor. Disasters are often opportunities
to improve an area- rebuilding means new opportunities in the end. And what new
opportunity does Bush see? To help the cause for Public School Vouchers. Instead
of focusing on acquiring funding to ensure that all the rebuilt public schools
in New Orleans provide education good enough that the rich families decide to
save some money and trust their children to the
system.
What about the kids who lived
in slums? Why not use this as an opportunity to enhance their life experiences-
provide funding to put them in special classes to help them deal with the loss
together- but also catch up on what everyone's been learning about those brand
new iMacs at St. Ignatius? It's pathetic that we live in a nation that thinks of
funding the status quo before it even comprehends the idea of helping improve
it. Instead of allowing for class-bridging social change based on disaster-
something most people would not expect you to counteract- you go "above and
beyond" to ensure the status quo of classism in New Orleans continues well into
the next generation. I feel like Michael Moore when I say this, but honestly,
"Shame On You, Mr. Bush"- and shame on those who support this, too.
Anybody got any wild ideas on how to
turn this situation upside
down?
It's been a while