TOMORROW! Rally/Hearing to STOP DC SCHOOL CLOSURES
Parisa Norouzi
Show your support for parents and communities who are fighting to save their neighborhood public schools! Contributions are needed to defray legal costs! Donations can be made online at www.empowerdc.org
SPREAD THE WORD!
SHOW YOUR SUPPORT FOR THE LAWSUIT
TO STOP DC SCHOOL CLOSURES
FRIDAY, MAY 10TH
RALLY 9:30 – 10:30 AM
11 AM – HEARING STARTS
Pack Hearing Room 19!
US District Court
333 Constitution Ave, NW
(Green/Yellow Line – Archives Metro)
RSVP to Dan...@empowerdc.org
Empower DC is calling on our allies to support the historic lawsuit to stop the planned closure of 15 DC Public Schools. The unjust school closure plan, if implemented, would displace over 2,700 students – 99.9% of whom are students of color. Only 2 white students would be impacted. The following excerpt from our complaint (attached in full) represents the significance of our case:
“The 2013-2014 “DCPS Consolidation and Reorganization Plan” (“The Plan”) will have a startlingly disparate impact on students of color, special education students and students who live in low income communities; and that disparate impact violates the United States Constitution, the D.C. Human Rights Law and applicable federal laws. There is a striking juxtaposition between how the Plan treats students “East of the Park,” those in predominantly minority, low income communities, and yet spares students “West of the Park,” those in predominantly Caucasian, affluent communities. The same is true with respect to how the Plan treats schools housing special education students. School Closures are not immune to judicial scrutiny.”
The threatened schools include:
Ward 1 – Shaw Middle School @ Garnett Patterson
Ward 4- MacFarland Middle School and Sharpe Health School (special education)
Ward 5 - Choice Academy at Hamilton, Mamie D Lee (special education), Marshall Elementary School, Spingarn High School and Spingarn Stay (adult education)
Ward 6 – Prospect Learning Center
Ward 7 – Davis Elementary School, Kenilworth Elementary School, Ron Brown Middle School and Winston Education Campus
Ward 8 – Ferebee-Hope Elementary School and MC Terrell/McGogney Elementary School
A full one third of the students who stand to be displaced have been impacted by previous closures. DC has closed 29 DC public schools since 2008, yet has done no analysis of the impact, nor demonstrated any educational gains from previous closures. Hundreds of teachers and staff would also be displaced.
Empower DC has retained civil rights Attorney Johnny Barnes and Constitutional Law Professor Jamie Raskin to lead the case, and has enlisted 12 volunteer attorneys to participate in the legal committee. We currently have 9 plaintiffs, 7 parents representing threatened schools and 2 ANC commissioners in impacted communities.
Given the rise of the school privatization and charter movement throughout the country, and the Obama Administration’s support for closing schools as a means of educational “reform,” we know the outcome of DC’s lawsuit, the first of its kind, will reverberate nationally. The media is paying close attention as well.
Please spread the word and join us tomorrow!
Parisa
Parisa B. Norouzi
Executive Director
Empower DC
1419 V St, NW
Washington, DC 20009