Capital Punishment
Today was school lobby day, which means that a rag tag bunch of well meaning parents and low level school administrators showed their faces in Albany today. In particular we were asking the state to give NYC public schools what was promised to them by the courts; $1.8 billion in capital for new school buildings to ease the burden from our famously overcrowded schools and $1.5 billion for operational funds. NYC public schools are notoriously underfunded, over crowded, under performing and over tested. The federal standards are not succeeding here. Neither are the physical conditions in which our children are required to learn.
No one is arguing this point. Everyone says they are for education and it is always the other guy's fault. We were told in nearly every meeting that we had today that nothing would ever happen until we could get Spitzer in the governor's seat. Well, as much as I like Spitzer, I think that's just a fucking cheap excuse. Not just from my Democratic brethren, but the bullshit that come spewing from the Republican side is just as obnoxious. Just cut with the crap and make with the money the courts say we have coming to us. Quit being such a dick.
One thing I did notice upon entering the Chancellor's hall for a little educational pep rally, of sorts, was that the majority of the people who showed up for this rather arduous day were minorities. The hall was wall to wall shades of brown. Come on, honkies! You need to make a better showing for public education. It can't get any better until you put your ass into it.
On the bright side, though, I had the loveliest time being a 13 year old kid on a school field trip to learn about state government. Plus, I couldn't help admiring my friend Lidia and her ability to be flip with people in authority and get away with it by just a blink and a smile. Ooooh, she sassy!
No one is arguing this point. Everyone says they are for education and it is always the other guy's fault. We were told in nearly every meeting that we had today that nothing would ever happen until we could get Spitzer in the governor's seat. Well, as much as I like Spitzer, I think that's just a fucking cheap excuse. Not just from my Democratic brethren, but the bullshit that come spewing from the Republican side is just as obnoxious. Just cut with the crap and make with the money the courts say we have coming to us. Quit being such a dick.
One thing I did notice upon entering the Chancellor's hall for a little educational pep rally, of sorts, was that the majority of the people who showed up for this rather arduous day were minorities. The hall was wall to wall shades of brown. Come on, honkies! You need to make a better showing for public education. It can't get any better until you put your ass into it.
On the bright side, though, I had the loveliest time being a 13 year old kid on a school field trip to learn about state government. Plus, I couldn't help admiring my friend Lidia and her ability to be flip with people in authority and get away with it by just a blink and a smile. Ooooh, she sassy!
posted by Bree O'Connor at 8:23 PM
3 Comments:
It's because the honkies aren't having nearly as many problems as the minoroties, for a variety of reasons...
Not really. Honkies go to the same underfunded school in NYC. Of course, the honkies are laboring under the delightful delusion that they could get out if they really wanted to.
A different colored rat in a maze is still a rat in a maze. That's from my honky home to yours, baby.
Wait a second- I realize that it appears I dismissed the issues facing minorities. I'm not. I'm just saying when it comes to the public school system- whites are just as trapped and entrenched in the system as minorites. It's just that the minorities are looking for a way out.
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