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January 30, 2013

Parents, Students Confront Education Dept. on School Closures 
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Activists from across the country gathered at the Education Department
in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday to demand federal action on a wave of
school closures. Parents, students and organizers told Education
Secretary Arne Duncan and top aides that school closings are hurting
entire communities, disproportionately those made up of low-income
residents and people of color. The Education Department is currently
probing complaints that school closings in six cities — D.C.,
Newark, Philadelphia, Detroit, New York City and Chicago — violate
the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Karran Harper Royal, a parent and activist
from New Orleans, said the administration's policies are hurting
students and their neighborhoods.

Karran Harper Royal: "Our communities are more than just data. Our
children are not data points. So I think it is time for President Obama
to reevaluate what his Department of Education is doing and its effect
on our communities."

 

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