Mysteriously to some, State Superintendent Mick Zais unintentionally insulted parents at Meeting Street Academy by suggesting that the school shows that the children of the poor can succeed academically in the right school climate. Apparently, the parents are not poor.
In Wednesday's editorial, the writer suggests, "MSA parents can’t afford private school tuition, but that doesn’t mean they’re poor. They are, rather, very proud of their children’s achievements."
Classic non sequitur.
Remaining unclear is that Meeting Street Academy has any means or residency tests. If not, why does this private school have a special deal from the city, renting the land for $10 per year?
Curiouser and curiouser.
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
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Those who judge public schools here often make incorrect assumptions. It would help if they knew something about this community before they spoke. Superintendent Zais may be forgiven because his feet really aren't on the ground here. Local public school leaders can't use that excuse.
Nancy McGinley once addressed a large crowd at Charleston Progressive Academy. It was a crowd that included hundreds of parents and grandparents of CPA students. Obviously uncomfortable, McGinley tried desparately to connect with a crowd that had made it known they had seen too many dreams for CPA deferred by CCSD's internal petty politics that favored other schools.
As if reaching for a last straw, McGinly said "My grandmother was a maid, too." Never mind the fact that the audience included a significant number of Charleston's African American elite as well as quite a few of us who had cleaned other people's floors at some point in our lives. She not only grossly misread her audience, she managed to insult all who had ever worked a domestic service job, too.
There should be dignity in every job honorably performed, including the service industry, but Nancy McGinley certainly didn't make it easy to see the virtue in honest labor.
The color of one's complextion, their place of residence and a job title all too often give the uninformed a license to make fools out of themselves. Statements based on biased assumptions reflect poor leadership. This is all too frequent among those who time and again stumble as they lead our public schools. Our many school communities in Charleston County deserve better than what we are getting.
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