By Sanashihla, an educator
Our Black children deserve more in our city and our schools. 60% of New Orleans residents are Black. The schools are made up of at least 80% Black children. Nearly 50% of children in New Orleans live in poverty. 96% of all juvenile arrests are of Black children.
New Orleans is a city where the rich ruling class acquired generational wealth on the enslavement of African people, whose descendants now fill the jails and prisons, or many of whom work low wage jobs without workers’ rights.
We cannot just accept this. We must DO SOMETHING to change these conditions!
We should make EQUITY a priority for our children, not just in words but in ACTION.
What does investment into children, of money and resources from the city and schools like now?
1. For an 180 day school year, Louisiana tax payers pay $11,000 per child, which results in an investment of $61 per day.
2. However, for 180 days in juvenile prison, Louisiana tax payers pay $50,400 per inmate, because it cost $280 PER DAY to keep kids locked up in juvenile prisons.
3. Imagine if we flipped the invest to invest $280 per day into the proactive education of children, how much of a difference it could make?
4. Out of the $647 million dollar city budget, only 1% goes to job development, and only 3% goes to children & families, while a
whopping 63% goes to cops, jails, and reactive programs.
All of the above adds up to an intentional investment in mass incarceration.
There are at least three ways the city and schools could prioritize equity for New Orleans’ children:
1. FLIP THE BUDGET so that 63% of the resources proactively go to job development, and children & families. Invest in children rather than criminalize them. Mass incarceration only impoverishes families. Yet, we can meet children’s immediate material and emotional needs, rather than hire more high paid administrators. Hire culturally competent social workers, therapists, and nurses.
2. Rather than invest in test preparation materials and programs, proactively invest in reading and math interventionists/specialists to collaborate with teachers to help children learn how to think, not merely what to think. There is not a sensible educator in any school that believes the current overabundance of testing is healthy for kids or teachers. Testing is a for-profit industry, stealing educational funds.
3. Enable and welcome parents to have a larger role in decision making. This means making extra accommodations that consider the hectic schedules of working families. A strong school parent partnership allows children to feel mentally, emotionally, spiritually, and physically safe & cared for in their journey to learn.
OneApp Discriminates
Realize that the idea of “choice” can either be about expanding opportunity or limiting options on the sly. Choice is a nice way of saying that every school is NOT equal. And, although the public has been conditioned to “accept” that certain schools have specializations, such as Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) and or ART, the real question is: shouldn’t all schools invest in science, technology, engineering, math, art and other areas of education? Why can’t schools of every neighborhood offer the opportunities that the rich ruling class demands be available in their children’s schools? The answer is: THEY CAN, when our priorities are in order and child centered. The OneApp does not solve equity issues in New Orleans, it exacerbates them when a parent is responsible for selecting up to 8 schools, and gets number 6, 7, or 8. What kind of choice is that?
So how do we get equity for our children, in our schools and beyond?
We don’t get it by sitting in silence or waiting for change to happen on its own. Strategic unity is key. We cannot allow public officials to support laws, policies, or budgets that promote white supremacy and maintain exploitation and oppression. We must educate, agitate, organize! Join us in doing so!