S1 E6: Mo' Charters Mo' Problems

School Colors

Brooklyn Deep

Politics, Education, Government, News

5 • 656 Ratings

🗓️ 8 November 2019

⏱️ 59 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

If you ask most people in Bed-Stuy’s District 16 why they think enrollment is falling, chances are they’ll point to charter schools: privately managed public schools, which have been on the rise in New York City for more than a decade. Charter schools were originally dreamed up to be laboratories for innovation in public education. Instead, many see them as a threat — competing with neighborhood schools for space, resources, and kids. Is this really a zero-sum game? In this episode, we talk to parents and educators on both sides of the district-charter divide to explore why charter schools seem especially polarizing in a Black neighborhood like Bed-Stuy, and what the growth of charter schools means for the future of this community.

Transcript

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0:00.0	The first time I ever visited Ember Elementary School in Bedford-Stuyvesant Brooklyn,
0:05.5	I walked into a classroom set up as a living statue gallery.
0:08.8	All around the room, there were children in costume, frozen in place, trying not to fidget
0:12.9	as they waited for me to approach.
0:14.7	So I walked up to the first statue and tapped him on the shoulder.
0:21.2	If the white man's then call me a Negro, would I be here right now?
0:25.4	If the white people didn't judge me by the color, the texture of my skin, would I be here right now?
0:30.2	If the whites didn't hate me, would I be here right now?
0:32.9	No.
0:33.8	The answer is truly no.
0:35.7	Hi, my name is George Jr. Jr.
0:37.3	I was born October 21st, 1929, South Columbia, Carolina. The answer is truly no. Hi, my name is George Jr.
0:41.3	I was born October 21st, 1929 in South Columbia, Carolina.
0:48.0	I died June 16th, 1944, when I was 14th in my hometown, South Columbia, Carolina,
0:51.9	because I was executed that day by Lexington.
0:55.0	Here's story of how it happened. When he was finished with his story, I went on to the next statue.
0:58.0	Hello everyone. My name is the journey of truth and when I was nine, I was a slave.
1:03.0	Working for people that I did not know.
1:05.0	And the next.
1:06.0	Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Michelle Obama.
1:09.0	Hello everybody. My name is Dr. Julius Irving, aka Dr. J.
1:13.6	Hi, my name is Ursula Burns.
	...

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