Earlier this week, the Council of the Great City Schools, whose member districts include the New York City Department of Education, issued a report “A Call for Change: The Social and Educational Factors Contributing to the Outcomes of Black Males in Urban Schools.”
The report calls the challenges facing young black males nationwide a “national catastrophe” that cries out for a coordinated national response.
Council Executive Director Michael Casserly said:
This is a national catastrophe, and it deserves coordinated national attention.The issues that emerge from the data are both moral and economic, calling into question the nation's ability to harness all of its talent to maintain a leadership footing in the world. How can you narrow or close the country’s black white achievement gap when African American males are not getting the attention and support they need to succeed.
Also earlier this week, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg made the stunning announcement that Cynthia Black, a magazine executive with zero education experience, would replace current New York City Schools Chancellor Joel Klein. Black went to Catholic school and sent her children to a Connecticut boarding school.
The appointment was made without notice that Klein was leaving and with no input from anyone outside of billionaire Bloomberg’s social network.
I am a product of the New York City public schools. I share the concern of many, including New York City Councilman Robert Jackson, that Black is unqualified to lead the nation’s largest school system.
Longtime community leader and activist Chris Owens is mobilizing opposition to Black’s appointment. He is calling on parents and other stakeholders to join him at a press conference to send a message to New York State Education Commissioner David M. Steiner:
We want the New York State Board of Regents to deny nominee Cathleen Black the waiver of education credentials that she needs to formally fill the position of Chancellor.
The press conference will be held on Monday, Nov. 15, 10:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m., on the steps of Brooklyn Borough Hall.
For more info, contact Chris Owens.
