Rev. Barber: “Education is our Bread and Butter Issue. We must stop the organized Child Abuse. The Genocide.” Here are Ms. Amina Turner, the NAACP Executive Director and Ms. Angella Dunston, the Education Committee Chair to highlight our Education Point:
Amina Turner: DID YOU KNOW one out of two young Black and Hispanic men don’t graduate from High School? DID YOU KNOW one out of three of these young men are tracked into the criminal justice system? DID YOU KNOW that studies show every child, Black, White and Brown, learns better in a racially diverse school? DID YOU KNOW that schools that are 90% racial minorities have less experienced teachers? DID YOU KNOW that over 44 of our High Schools are, at this moment, violating the Constitutional guarantee of an adequate education?
Ms. Angella Dunston: THEREFORE: WE DEMAND local governments stop using their powers of zoning, lending, and placement to create more segregated neighborhoods and schools. WE DEMAND the state put school districts and individual schools into state trusteeship when the court finds that they have violated the Constitution.
WE DEMAND the State fund poor students’ supplement fund. WE DEMAND the State makes sure our tax money does not foster abusive re-segregation. WE DEMAND the State hire Special Leadership Teams of 3-5 master teachers, administrators and community organizers for each of the 44 unconstitutional high schools, with $100 million from Lottery proceeds earmarked for these master teacher teams.
WE DEMAND a 5-year moratorium on prison construction and divert the money into education/recreation/work programs for our young people as a more cost-effective approach to locking them up with experienced criminals. WE DEMAND each child who has the legal right to a Personal Education Plan, gets one.
