(NAME-MCE) Closing the Door on Seattle’s Children of Color

[Anselmo Villanueva]

Closing the Door on Seattle's Children of Color

This coming fall, 13 Seattle elementary and middle school programs are
scheduled to be shut down or discontinued forever. While the Seattle School
District insists that these changes are necessary in order to avert a
projected $25 to $37 million deficit, many parents, educators and leaders in
the community are wondering just how high the costs are going to be for the
future of our children. When you look at the statistics, it is staggering:

- The African American Academy is 99.1 percent students of color and 80.5
percent low-income

- Cooper Elementary is 77 percent students of color and 71.3 percent
low-income

- Meany Middle School is 87.1 percent students of colors and 68.7 percent
low-income

- Summit K-12, which will be replaced with an elementary and middle school
programs, is currently 50.2 percent minority and 47.2 percent low-income

- TT Minor Elementary School is 84.5 percent minority and 78.6 percent
low-income.

Although the final decisions have been made, all hope is not lost. The local
NAACP is currently considering filing a lawsuit against the district and is
encouraging residents to contact the U.S. Department of Education to share
how their children and communities will be affected by these drastic
decisions. Sadly, the district has decided it cannot wait to find out how
much money it will receive from President Obama's stimulus recovery plan,
which has stated that "some local school districts in large cities may
receive around $20 million in actual grants to repair or upgrade crumbling
schools." If the district could dip into its $30 million reserve fund to
close the gap, not one of these closures would be necessary.

During one of the worst economies in America's history, is it really the
time to quit investing in our children's futures? I would love to hear your
thoughts on this issue. Please feel free to leave a comment on the article
or you can share your concerns by emailing me at nicolek at colorsnw.com.

President Obama is also interested in hearing your story of how you are
surviving – or floundering – during this economic crisis. Do you believe the
economic recovery plan will help you? You can share your story at
http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http://my.barackobama.com%2Fpage%2Fs%2Fkainestoryor
call 1-888-64-CHANGE.

Sincerely,
Nicole Kidder
Managing Editor
http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http://www.ColorsNW.com