The Community SAYS “VOTE NO” APS BOARD OF EDUCATION!
Inherent Bias ~ School to Prison Pipeline ~ Institutionalized Racism ~ Blighted Communities
SCHOOL CLOSINGS DO NOT:
*Improve Academic Achievement * Build Communities,
*support parent engagement. *Support Good Teachers * Attract and Retain Good Leaders!
INSTEAD IT:
* Dis-Enfranchises* Dis-Connects and Dis-Places–Primarily Black and Brown communities!
The Community is Protesting ALL APS School Closings/Merging and ask the Atlanta Board of Education to place a Moratorium and Develop a 5 Year Strategic Plan for School Development and Achievement!
The Governor’s Failed OSD Attempt to take over schools and turn them over to unaccountable operators, is exactly what Dr. Meria Carstarphen has been doing through her so-called Turn-Around Strategy, giving schools away to “Partner” operators, merging schools and closing schools. Dr. Carstarphen and the board says “she was sent to transform schools”, Transform. NOT Improve?! By Transform, she means Turn-Over—Close, and not provide the educational support needed for students to achieve! This after just months from the start of the Charter System Contract with the state to assist APS in making “significant” changes to the curriculum, school leadership and governance.
Dr. Cartarphen has failed in her attempt to turn schools around and thus has created questions from the community as to whether she is the best person for the job! “WE pay the superintendent a lot of money, and her best effort yields turn-over, closings, and her constant barrage of negative public comments about APS principals and staff”. She has not fostered collective ownership in APS, but has used her power to divide and degrade our communities. The superintendent has been heard in the school closings meetings as making comments like: “the poor of Atlanta cannot work themselves out of poverty”, “teachers in Atlanta cannot teach reading”, “majority of children in APS are not reading on grade level proficiency, and the ones that show they are, I’m not so sure about either”. She has been called out in meetings for openly disrespecting principals, while praising others. The community is losing trust, and does not believe in the newly formed APS vision and mission, which says “with a caring culture of trust and collaboration” …THE COMMUNITY ASKS WHERE’S THE CARE AND WHERE’S THE COLLABORATION?
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