Parents filled the School Board meeting chanting “Take back our schools!” and “Erase the board!”
By Nathalie Clarke
In response to the possible closure of five schools, Fisher Academy, McDonogh 32, Nelson Academy, Cypress Academy, and Edgar P. Harney, parents, students, and educators are organizing and fighting back. Friends and Families of Louisiana’s Incarcerated Children (FFLIC) first held an action in front of Edgar P. Harney, protesting the unjust investigation of principal Ashonta Wyatt and the closure of the school. All Ms. Wyatt had done was question Harney’s board’s spending and for this she was subsequently fired. When the school board didn’t respond to the protest, FFLIC urged parents, students, and educators to crowd the November 15th Orleans Parish School board meeting.
The board did everything in their power to silence their constituents. They encouraged parents from Cypress Academy not to come, and only released the meeting’s agenda 24 hours before the meeting. They also failed to inform people that in order to make comments they’d not only have to drive to the West Bank in the middle of the work day, but also arrive 30 minutes early to drop off their comment card. Nonetheless, folks took to the podium to voice their anger about the closures and about the way schools in New Orleans have been run since Katrina.
“We are surrounded by failing schools in Louisiana, but New Orleans was the only [district] for sale,” K. T. parent and native New Orleanian commented, referring to the disproportionate privatization of New Orleans schools following Katrina.
“We don’t work for you. You represent us! When did we get asked about these changes?” asked Ashana Bigard, a long-time advocate for children and families and organizer with Friends and Families of Louisiana’s Incarcerated children.
The crowd chanted “Erase the board!” while many concerned parents took to the podium to share their outrage. “Our children deserve better than Cs!” one parent protested.
The vulture capitalists who came in before Katrina’s waters even receded would have us believe that charter schools, so called “free-market” education reforms, give parents more choice and produce better schools because of competition, but any working-class parent in Orleans Parish can tell you this simply isn’t true. The Recovery School District–which took over 105 public schools in 2005 and turned them into charters–is using public money to produce failing schools. There are only 18,500 seats at schools rated “A” or “B” by the State, and 45,000 students vying to get in. Over 80% of schools in the city received a grade of C or less in 2018.
After the board meeting, parents once again rallied in front of Harney school to voice their anger about the school closure and support for Ms. Ashonta Wyatt, the principal who was fired on November 17th despite massive support from parents and the community. The fight continues: FFLIC is calling on folks to persistently show up to board meetings to protest the current state of New Orleans education. The next Orleans Parish School Board meeting will be on December 6th at 5pm.
All children deserve a free, quality education. The New Orleans Workers Group believes in community control of schools–putting schools back in the hands of teachers, parents, students, and workers. The fight to get schools back under community control is not won yet, but parents, educators, and students organizing together is how we will win. The reason the Orleans Parish School Board members feel they can stifle working-class children’s minds with failing schools is because they think we are worthless. They have forgotten our collective power as workers: we make this city run, and we will keep reminding them that they work for us.
“We are tired of being an experiment. They need to return schools to the community.” Parent Deirdre Lewis