At Some Point Somebody Has to Care

I wasn't going to write a post tonight.  My week is packed.  The Gates Foundation is visiting our school tomorrow, and I have to do my best not to let on that I think they're a bunch of smug assholes who like to experiment on our neediest kids.  I have to prepare for a literacy class I volunteered to teach after school to students from the Dominican Republic who are fifteen and sixteen years old and cannot read.  I have to write an agenda for my team meeting tomorrow, mark and enter assignments, plan for next week, and do some research into the contract for a few of my union members.

BUT,

I am so sick of reading about the bull going on with Bruce Monroe Elementary School in DC that I just had to vent my anger.

As those in DC well know, Bruce Monroe (in the Petworth neighborhood - just down the street from where I used to live) was bulldozed earlier this year.  Then Chancellor Rhee promised parents a much nicer facility would be built.  She said $20 million would be allocated for it (that money seems to have been imaginary). In the meantime, students were moved to a abysmal building at Park View.  Students complained of trouble breathing; drugs were regularly sold across the street; and a number of teachers' cars were broken into.  And now private developers are moving on their plans to build their luxury condos in the location of the former Bruce Monroe - just what NW DC needs more of, luxury condos.

If you want to see how monied interests tied to like-minded mayors and their school chancellors affects people, watch this between 2:08:30 and 2:16:10.

Then, help Ben Parisi and Empower DC fight for Bruce Monroe by signing the petition to encourage Council Chairman Elect Brown and Ward 1 Councilman Graham to rebuild Bruce Monroe without delay - because what's happening with Bruce Monroe is wrong, and it'd be nice if some local politicians thought somebody cared.

Comments

  1. This is despicable. Another example of Rhee et al putting students first...

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  2. I keep thinking somebody has to give a shit, too, but I'm beginning to think nobody does...

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  3. We should send the link to Oprah

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  4. Are they really trying to build luxury condos there? I hadn't heard this. Could you share the source? I am not disputing, I am just curious.

    It breaks my heart to see public property sold cheaply and given away. It's like the whole city gets robbed, every day.

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  5. Anon at 841: No problem. I'd recommend you check out the link I put in the post on the DC council meeting earlier this year. Additionally, here are some links about the Bruce Monroe BS:

    http://thefightback.org/2010/11/bruce-monroe-elementary-case-study-in-gentrification/#more-1429

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/21/AR2010032101114.html

    http://education.change.org/blog/view/in_washington_dc_are_condos_worth_more_than_kids

    http://www.grassrootsmediaproject.org/2010/11/developers-deliberate-over-the-fate-of-bruce-monroe-elementary-school/

    http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/housingcomplex/2009/08/10/bruce-monroe-elementary-demolishing-for-future-development/

    The story of Bruce Monroe is part of a larger story on the destructive nature of gentrification in the District, which has been going on for quite some time. It seems to have been one of Fenty's top executive priorities.

    ReplyDelete

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