Diversity Reflected in Black History Editions
I would like to congratulate the Washington Informer for a series of well-thought out and informative Black History sections throughout the month of February.
I was particularly impressed with writer Barrington Salmon's Brown Babies article and Editor Shantella Sherman's work, Diaspora Rising. It is so impressive that the focus of the Informer went beyond the stereotypical, usual suspects and instead included noteworthy British, Haitian, Guyanese, and Jamaican black people. I am a native of Panama and greatly enjoyed the diversity of the editions. Congratulations on a job well done.
H. Hall Ross
Falls Church, Va.
An Assault on D.C. Public Schools
I whole-heartedly agree with the parents featured in Dorothy Rowley's article "Coalition Rallies against School Closings," in the March 7, 2013 edition. Not only are the parents correct in their views about Chancellor Kaya Henderson's attempt to make DCPS a charter school system, but she is continuing the all-out assault to break up the Teachers' Union that was started by her mentor and former chancellor, Michelle Rhee.
Parents have the right to be partners in choosing how their children are educated. The public school system has afforded them not only this but also some say-so about what their children are taught. Charter schools don't allow this. You have to buy into their philosophy and their methods in order to attend their schools, and if you disagree you take your child out of the school.
A lot of the blame for the fertile atmosphere for charter schools east of Rock Creek Park can be blamed on the public school system itself. For years fiscal mismanagement, combined with corrupt and unaccountable leaders have fostered an air of distrust by most who have tried to navigate their children through the system. But the job of the chancellor is to restore trust with the community and show that the system can meet the needs of all the students of the District of Columbia, not just a few.
Chancellor Henderson should be making sure schools are provided with what they need to ensure the success of all the students in the system, such as a system-wide curriculum and books and supplies, instead of secretly carrying out the plans of her mentor and teacher.
Marvin J. Bishop
Washington, D.C.
