Woman sentenced for sending kids to better schoolAs a former Chicago Public Schools (CPS) teacher, I can personally attest to our nation's crisis in education. Debates in political arenas, community organizations, and education systems have named the various perpetrators of this decline as adminstrators, funding, teachers, children, and parents. I certainly can produce support and examples for each argument, however, here is a case that has all of these elements working together to produce education and yet it is rooted out, stamped out, and completely destroyed by a judge.
This caring mother, dissatisfied with the school district of her neighborhood, placed her children in a better district. Absent the legal ramifications, it sounds quite logical. Unfortunately, because she was not a resident of that school's district, she has been found guilty of fraud and sentenced to jail. To add insult to injury, as she completes her training to become a teacher, the judge informs her that she will be unable to work in the Ohio school system. In fact, her newly imposed felony will prevent her from working in most schools.
In a time where most of our nation's institutions are experiencing great losses, many of our citizens find themselves seeking ways to at least survive; and at most, improve their stations in life. For racial minorities in this country, this has been the reality for a long time. It reeks of "Separate But Equal" claims.
The punishment exceeds the crime. The judge is effectively condemning this woman to poverty. Even when she receives her teaching certification, she cannot use it. In order to obtain training, degree, certification in another area, she will have to start over... time, money, etc. and still hope that she can find employment with a felony on her record.
Say what you will about No Child Left Behind, but I could have sworn that it allows parents to move their children from poor performing schools. It's well-intentioned mess of legislation created by politicians who haven't got a clue about what schooling really looks like in America. It hangs teachers and school districts out to dry, placing all accoutability with them; while failing to provide the necessary funds, training (to parents, communities, districts) essential for reformation. Still, its currently on the books (not for long) and somewhere there is a case for this woman where NCLB can actually do some good.
Sometimes (more often now with what is increasingly seeming to be the fall of our nation) we hear someone's story and all feel the collective gunshot to the skull. Hell yes, this could be anyone of us. Any one of us 20-30 somethings who are working to reach our potential...at university or wherever, living within our means but below our expectations in neighborhoods that might be just OK but without any of the magnet schools where we know we'll send our kids. I know there are great teachers at not so great schools. I've been one (note: that was after I was a not so great teacher at a not so great school). But that doesn't mean I intend to send my kid to one. My kid deserves better than that. My kid deserves a chance...even if its just the chance to fail on his/her own without having a school to aid in the failure. We all feel this way, but racial minorities in this country feel it even more. We've already endured so many disadvantages in this institution, hell, in ALL of this nation's institutions.
Free this lady. Free us all.
1 comment:
I guess this is as good a place as any to begin my odyssey into the blogosphere. My editorial comments on this topic, though, general and muted by character limits and a touch of literary shyness, will I hope convey nonetheless the universality of the wish of all mothers (who give a damn) for "better lives"--however we define this--for our children.
As a poet, thinker, and aspiring academic, I cannot ignore the intersection of class, race, and gender in this case, and how that greatly influenced the decision to prosecute and the outcome. This is a classic case of the hegemonic group--be it White people, people with money, or whatever definition you use--getting what they want because they have the political capital to do so. The rationale for prosecuting the case to this extent was an attempt to deter people from taking advantage of a system they don't contribute to financially. Robin Roberts, host of Good Morning America, asked the question of how much money is spent on the investigation and prosecution of these "criminals," and was told that cost far exceeded the cost of educating these children. Harrassment of people, particularly people of color, in affluent school districts is not uncommon, and I hope the state of Ohio is not setting a dangerous precedent for the criminalization of providing a more optimal learning environment for your child. If so, as a mother myself I guess I better start saving my bail money.
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