"Upon the entry of an order by the court " declaring that west bank magnet schools offer substantially equal educational opportunities as magnet schools situated on the east side of the Mississippi River, no student domiciled on the west bank of the river shall be permitted to enroll in an east bank magnet school and no student domiciled on the east bank of the river shall be permitted to enroll in a west bank magnet school..." Judge Engelhardt
"Upon the entry of an order by the court..." Can this be any clearer!!
Question: Will my student be denied access NOW to a magnet on the opposite side of the river from his residency?
"According to our attorneys, all new qualified East Bank magnet applicants receive 1st priority (to Eastbank schools). Westbank students will only be considered after all available spaces have been filled by qualified Eastbank students." Rosalind Mathes
"the document speaks for itself" Charles Patin
So this is what the "document" says, Patin!!
"The Court made it abundantly clear that the January 29th Order did not declare the magnet schools to be unitary, but was a step towards the eventual declaration of such status. In fact,
the Court requested, and the parties agreed to, the deletion of language in the original West Bank Magnet Plan that confined magnet students to the side of the river upon which they reside, see Rec. Doc. 190,and noted that deletion at the fairness hearing. The Court has consistently noted that it did not favor any proposal to “close the river,” and repeated that fact at the hearing. Finally, in response to a question from a parent, the Court explicitly declared from the bench that a student need not live on the West Bank to attend a West Bank magnet school, and vice verse." Judge Engelhardt
"Despite assertions to the contrary made by attorneys last week, the Jefferson Parish public school system cannot use the Mississippi River as a dividing line when assigning students to its magnet schools, according to an order released last week by the federal judge overseeing the district's desegregation lawsuit." Jenny Hurwitz, TP
At this point Federal Government oversight is the most sensible thing to maintain. This school board is not ready to handle the responsibilities of a desegregated system!!
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1 comment:
Well stated.
Unfortunately, Marion, I believe this case has become more about dividing the parish by closing the door at the river, and less about desegregation. The attorneys will claim that they have not in fact "closed the river" to crossing students.
However, posting a troll at the top of the bridge who will only allow you to pass to the other side after you jump through hoops for him (can you say Rumpelstiltskin?), and then nailing the door shut after you squeeze through the tiny crack that he momentarily opens for you does not (to me anyway) constitute an "open bridge".
The attorneys have drawn a line in the sand. It's time that the judge did, too.
I sincerely hope that the judge will not permit the attorneys to "assign" our students to any magnet school. This will lead to further segregation, not less.
As one parent stated already:
Since when do the attorneys run our school system, anyway?
Has the Jefferson Parish School Board inadvertently created a monster?
Have the attorneys become our own 3-headed Frankenstein, more concerned about exerting power and control and less concerned about fairness, empathy, and concern for the children in our schools?
If so, perhaps it is time that Judge Engelhardt brought this monster to its knees.
Perhaps it is time that the focus of this case gets back to where it should be---to our children.
Perhaps it is time to fire these attorneys and hire someone who will actually look out for what is in the best interest of our schools, our families, our children, and our community as a whole.
Isn't that what we pay them for?
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