I had to laugh at the editorial in the Post and Courier Saturday morning. In my opinion, laughing is the healthiest way of dealing with the politics of this town. The editorial refers to Dr. McGinley's proposal of selling the Taj Mahal (a/k/a 75 Calhoun Street) in an effort to get us out of the financial mess we're in. I don't believe it and I give her a "C minus" on this one. If she was really sincere, that would have been her first proposed option. The editorial states "Mayor Joseph P. Riley, Jr. (gotta love the full name in there) wants CCSD to remain on Calhoun Street..." And we all know what the mayor wants the mayor gets, right?
I don't know if any one else got it, but I got the sneaky suspicion the author of that editorial was sticking it to the mayor when they then stated "Maybe moving the district headquarters from its traditional location in the county seat won't turn out to be an option, particularly given the city of Charleston's strong desire to keep the headquarters downtown." The CITY of Charleston? I thought it was just the MAYOR of Charleston who had openly expressed opposition to the idea.
Yet, as long as we remain silent, they are one in the same. I just wish the residents and councilmen of the CITY of Charleston would quit letting the Mayor speak on our behalf.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Outreach? I think not.
I couldn't help but notice the irony of The Chronicle's front page last week. The top three featured articles are authored by Barney Blakeney, Arthur Lawrence, and Brenda Nelson. We are all very familiar with Mr. Blakeney and Mr. Lawrence. Yet who is Dr. Nelson, or should I say REVEREND Nelson? She says, she has "had the opportunity to really listen to the heartfelt concerns of many..." Well, duh, woman. We can't dispute that. Don't you get paid close to $100,000 a year to show up to CCSD's dog and pony shows? I'm sure you are listening, but are you really HEARING us? I doubt it. In your article, you actually insult our intelligence when you feel it necessary to 1) identify yourself as a "Minister" and 2) quote a passage from the Bible. Your audacity to quote Hosea 4:6 really turns my stomach. As you quote, "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou has rejected knowledge."
HUH?
I'm a true believer in separation of church and state, but I decided to thumb through the Old Testament and read a little. The passage Ms. Nelson quotes from continues "Because you have ignored the law of God, I also will ignore your children." Now THAT makes sense to me. We could place quite a few political cronies in place of God in that sentence and it makes even more sense to me.
Cut to the chase. Ms. Nelson is part of the problem. Her "testimony" in The Chronicle makes it clear she does NOT understand. She is black, yet she is out of touch with the black community. She knows CCSD is not teaching our children the basic skills necessary to function in society, yet she says nothing, reaping the rewards of her paycheck and kissing a little "you know what" to make sure it keeps coming.
I believe it was Ms. Memminger, a Fraser parent, who inquired about Brenda Nelson at the Burke Community meeting. She asked: Who IS she? And WHAT does she do? Close out her salary and others like her before you close our schools. Clearly if an active parent like Ms. Memminger doesn't know who CCSD's Community Outreach Coordinator is or what she does there hasn't been a heck of a lot of reaching going on.
Mr. Lawrence's article suggested merging our two downtown magnet schools to create true integration. I heard he got a phone call from Ms. Nelson reaching out to him the next day on what a bad idea that would be. Mr. Blakeney's article quotes Rev. Lewis and retired educator David Mack Jr. and the obvious fact all of the schools proposed to be closed are predominately African-American and the lack of quality funding and education taking place in these same schools year after year.
Which brings me back to Ms. Nelson. These communities were blind-sided by CCSD. That's not reaching out. That's p--sing people off. Many of the schools, such as our own Charleston Progressive won't exist under any of CCSD's options. Can you imagine if CCSD did that to a predominately white school? One day a school is advertising for 2009-2010 applicants, the next day they have no building.
I believe our community really wants integration. Yet CCSD is going about it the WRONG way. Communicate with the parents at CPA, Buist, and Community Montessori PRIOR to your proposal. Give them a chance to propose options. Instead, CCSD has pitted school against school, which unfortunately is creating more racial tension. How can you close a predominately black school with no prior warning and give its building to a predominately white school without creating racial tension? I pray at tonight's school board meeting the parents of these schools will unite and realize who the real devil is in this sick process.
HUH?
I'm a true believer in separation of church and state, but I decided to thumb through the Old Testament and read a little. The passage Ms. Nelson quotes from continues "Because you have ignored the law of God, I also will ignore your children." Now THAT makes sense to me. We could place quite a few political cronies in place of God in that sentence and it makes even more sense to me.
Cut to the chase. Ms. Nelson is part of the problem. Her "testimony" in The Chronicle makes it clear she does NOT understand. She is black, yet she is out of touch with the black community. She knows CCSD is not teaching our children the basic skills necessary to function in society, yet she says nothing, reaping the rewards of her paycheck and kissing a little "you know what" to make sure it keeps coming.
I believe it was Ms. Memminger, a Fraser parent, who inquired about Brenda Nelson at the Burke Community meeting. She asked: Who IS she? And WHAT does she do? Close out her salary and others like her before you close our schools. Clearly if an active parent like Ms. Memminger doesn't know who CCSD's Community Outreach Coordinator is or what she does there hasn't been a heck of a lot of reaching going on.
Mr. Lawrence's article suggested merging our two downtown magnet schools to create true integration. I heard he got a phone call from Ms. Nelson reaching out to him the next day on what a bad idea that would be. Mr. Blakeney's article quotes Rev. Lewis and retired educator David Mack Jr. and the obvious fact all of the schools proposed to be closed are predominately African-American and the lack of quality funding and education taking place in these same schools year after year.
Which brings me back to Ms. Nelson. These communities were blind-sided by CCSD. That's not reaching out. That's p--sing people off. Many of the schools, such as our own Charleston Progressive won't exist under any of CCSD's options. Can you imagine if CCSD did that to a predominately white school? One day a school is advertising for 2009-2010 applicants, the next day they have no building.
I believe our community really wants integration. Yet CCSD is going about it the WRONG way. Communicate with the parents at CPA, Buist, and Community Montessori PRIOR to your proposal. Give them a chance to propose options. Instead, CCSD has pitted school against school, which unfortunately is creating more racial tension. How can you close a predominately black school with no prior warning and give its building to a predominately white school without creating racial tension? I pray at tonight's school board meeting the parents of these schools will unite and realize who the real devil is in this sick process.
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