Failing schools and failing parents.

I see you Negroes pitching a hissy fit in places like Chicago and here in Philly over the school board in these cities deciding to close a bunch of public schools.

But my question to you Negroes would be this: Why now? Why are you just now coming to the realization that a proper [public school] education is important and that the school house is the most important part of our community?

A colleague of mine is five months pregnant with her first child, and she is already thinking about her unborn child's future. She was lamenting the lack of quality public schools (K-12) here in Philly in predominantly African American neighborhoods, and the lack of focus and interest that people (even well educated and professional ones) take in making sure that fine schools are available in their neighborhoods.

The black folks who can afford it ship their money -and their children- off to private schools and never look back. The folks who do send their children to the neighborhood schools are not as involved with their children's educational well being as they should be, and they never give the children's school a second thought until something like budget cuts comes along and smacks them in the face. I am not a fan of charter schools, but it's easy to see why the charter school movement is picking up steam across the country.

"Field, even in Chinatown the folks over there are making sure that their children have good neighborhood schools, and meanwhile in upper middle class neighborhoods in the city we are lacking. I am already worried about where my child is going to end up and whether my husband and I will be able to afford it."

I feel your pain my sister. I feel your pain. If your child isn't a genius and fortunate enough to hit the lottery and get into one of our better performing public schools, you are going to have to shell out the big bucks or be the only parent at PTA meetings at one of the lower performing schools. This is the sad reality that we are faced with in black America: Many of us just do not place as much importance as we should in a proper education.

At the end of the day, school closings may or may not save the cities money. I will leave that for others to decide. But the bottom line is that until we start showing more interest in our kid's education this is the type of games that will be played with our children's future. If you don't care about your own child's education, why do you think that some bureaucrat who is paid well over six figures to watch the bottom line will?

"'Every child in every neighborhood in Chicago deserves access to a high-quality education that prepares them to succeed in life, but for too long children in certain parts of Chicago have been cheated out of the resources they need to succeed because they are in underutilized, under-resourced schools,'  Byrd-Bennett said.

'As a former teacher and a principal, I've lived through school closings and I know that this will not be easy, but I also know that in the end this will benefit our children."'

No it won't. Because they will still have the same parents.