Rabbi Andy Bachman and other members of Congregation Beth Elohim in Park Slope, were at the public hearing last night on the proposed opening of Millennium School at John Jay High School. Unfortunately he had to leave before the public comments period. Here is an excerpt from what he was going to say last night, which is on his blog today.
Speaking as one observer of events, it appears to me that the students, faculty and families of those schools currently housed at John Jay High School have not been accorded the equality of treatment and fairness in funding that ought to be the right of every student in our public school system. As unfathomable as it may seem, in our own neighborhood in Park Slope, we are likely witnessing, in our time, the historically anachronistic occurrence of a “separate and unequal” educational system which has deprived the John Jay campus of the funding and support it rightfully deserves. If this is shown to be true, this is a grave injustice that we must not tolerate in our midst.
CBE members send their kids to public schools; CBE members are teachers and administrators in the public schools. My wife Rachel and I send all three of our children to public school and our eldest will be attending high school next year. It’s this commitment to the enriching democratic life of this city that we share with our neighbors tonight. And, in the broadest terms, like many members of CBE, we are a part of a faith community that believes fervently in the public education system. John Jay students, though following a variety of faith traditions, have worked at CBE–as camp counselors and after-school teachers–and before that, were students in our After School and Day Camp programs. “Mine House Shall Be An House of Prayer for All Peoples.”
As students of history, we ought not to take lightly the words “Separate But Equal.” In fact, the fight for equality was achieved by all people of goodwill, including, on many occasions, important alliances between African Americans and Jews. Just this morning in the newspaper, I read several moving remembrances by rabbis, now in their seventies and eighties, who recalled with pride their honor in having been arrested and jailed during a critical fight for justice in our country alongside the Rev Martin Luther King, Jr and other leaders of the Civil Rights movement, declaring that Jews stood beside Blacks in the struggle for freedom, justice and equality. And as the Senior Rabbi of Brooklyn’s largest Reform synagogue, I declare myself equally dedicated to those principles of freedom, justice and equality today.
If it’s true that the John Jay campus has been chronically underfunded; and if it’s true that through misleading information the Department of Education has attempted to open Millennium 2 in Brooklyn without a truly fair and equal attempt to improve the John Jay campus for its existing students and faculty, then we ought to raise our voices against this injustice and demand fairness for all students regardless of race, income or background. There is no question that Brooklyn is sorely in need of more improved public school options–not only for the children of Park Slope but for all the children of this borough. In a democracy, we must remain committed to an educational system that sees the potential in every human being regardless of their origin.
I applaud the current John Jay families and staff in their quest for more resources, which is shared by every single parent with a child in a NYC public school. Attacking Millennium may not be the way I would have done it, however.
I support the opening of a new screened high school in Brooklyn. Brooklyn does not have enough seats for good students of any and all races, religions, ethnic groups, and so forth. In fact, NYC has NO high schools serving children with Autism Spectrum Disorders, which the new Millennium would do.
It appears that John Jay is not a good location for a new high school, based on the reactions of the students currently attending the three schools located there, and the staff. Clearly they will not welcome having a new school in the building.
As such, I really hope that DoE finds a new location for the high school in Brooklyn. It would be terribly sad if Brooklyn residents managed to drive away the new Millennium. That would not be a good result for anyone.
By the way, before you sling charges of racism I suggest visiting MS 447, the middle school that Lisa Gioe founded, and which is truly representative of NYC, PLUS it services students with learning disabilities and Autism. It is a fantastic school: we need more like it.
Here we go again. I feel like I’m stepping back in time, (1954) to be exact when Brown v. Board of Education, was a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court that declared state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students UNCONSTITUIONAL and yet the percentage of Black children who now go to integrated schools has dropped to its lowest level since 1968.
Black and Latino students should and are entitled to the same educational access as others. The reason these children fail is because they have not been adequately prepared to compete with the other students applying for a limited number of spots. What the racial gap in admissions represents is the devastating end result of the failure to educate Black and Latino children effectively from Elementary to Middle School years.
It is impossible to improve the inferior quality of the education that minority children receive without confronting the fact that they are attending increasingly segregated schools; separate is still unequal. Yet that is exactly what the (DOE) is trying to do at John Jay complex located in Park Slope Brooklyn. Until the (DOE) begins to follow the lead of several smaller cities across the country New York’s school system will continue to fail to serve the majority of its students. Public records prove that New York State is the most segregated state for Black and Latino children in America. The majority of them go to schools where no more than two to four percent of the children are White.
Students should be encouraged to develop the knowledge, skills and attitudes which will empower them to live in the future as adults in a pluralist society, recognizing what they hold in common as well as what separates them and accepting both. They should be taught tolerance rather than toleration. What this situation is currently leading to is the distinct possibility of unnecessary violence within the schools and this disheartens me as a parent. Often time we try not to use the word “Racism” but what would you call what the DOE is trying to do at the John Jay complex? The proof is in the pudding. If our students aren’t allowed to be educated together now what future does our country envision or demonstrate to the rest of the world?
Concerned Parent – Secondary School for Law
Andy you have hit the nail on the head