So you are saying, there's something wrong with a system in which the
poor can only be funded if they are bundled with the non-poor. I can
accept that.
Can you accept, as I do, this is still a political fact on the ground in
the year 2008? Can you accept the fact taxpayers with resources are
likelier to fund public programs they can get some return from, than
public programs they'll get nothing from? Can you accept the fact a
shrewd public bureaucracy should seek to bundle the needs of the poor
with the needs of potential payors? Or would you prefer the poor stand
apart from the rest of society and get nothing from it as a result?
As for displacement ... when University City HS is closed for repairs,
all its students from the previous year will be displaced. They will be
no more and no less displaced if, two years later, the building reopens
to serve this new school or that new school. The old is gone forever.
Can you accept that?
This is not my wish or my position, Wilma. It's a done deal. Maybe we'd
like a history-themed HS. In that case, we're in luck: UCHS, as we know
it, is history. The question that remains is what the School District
will do with the property. Should it be partnered with Penn or with
Glenn? Should it steer students toward international relations or toward
pet care? These are the questions that remain to be determined.
Do you accept also it's the School District that will ultimately make
this call?
-- Tony West
Wilma de Soto wrote:
If the only way poor kids can get adequate funding is to be in close
proximity to middle-class kids, there's something wrong. If the self-same
poor kids get displaced because the district wishes to restructure the
school in the name of attracting even more middle-class kids, that's a large
part of gentrifying, whether it is done with Penn's backing or any other
well-heeled institution.
I have seen that and although I do not agree with it, I can accept that
would be the result. Can you?
----
You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the
list named "UnivCity." To unsubscribe or for archive information, see
<http://www.purple.com/list.html>.
