April 4, 2008
MLK, Sharpton, Ed Reform, Shifting Winds?
(UPDATED) 
I had to catch an early morning flight out of Memphis, but made a point of making a 5 a.m. visit to the Lorraine Motel, the site where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was gunned down 40-years-ago today. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised but there was already a small crowd gathered to pay vigil, an obvious reminder of just how much impact the event continues to have for Americans, particularly (but certainly not limited to) African-Americans.
I was in Memphis for a very interesting panel discussion sponsored by Rev. Al Sharpton's National Action Network. In addition to me and Kevin Chavous, from DFER, the panelists included Washington, D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty. DC Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee, former Milwaukee Superintendent Howard Fuller, KISS FM radio host (and former drummer for Miles Davis) James Mtume, Sharpton (briefly), and Urban League CEO Marc Murial. NYC Schools Chancellor Joel Klein moderated the panel.
When the panel was over, Howard Fuller asked me what had just happened. I wasn't really sure. It is hard to describe, but it was sort of surreal. We had a frank discussion about the education problem and the entrenched obstacles to doing anything about it. But it was difficult to determine how committed some of the national civil rights leaders actually were to doing anything significant to change the equation. Where does it go from here?
It will be particularly interesting to see whether Rev. Sharpton can match his rhetoric with action. (The Memphis Commercial Appeal covered the panel here.) Sharpton, after the discussion had been kicking for a while, talked about how the education problem is so dire that we can no longer honor past alliances which existed to protect the status quo in education.
(He didn't elaborate, but I assume he was talking about partnerships and $$$ between old civil rights groups and big labor, specifically teachers unions. Why did I assume that? He made the dots pretty easy to connect.)
From the newspaper account:
"I think there is nothing more important as we commemorate 40 years after the assassination of Dr. King than the education crisis," he said. "Every time you have a crisis that reaches everywhere, it hurts those at the bottom the most."
He and several others said part of the change includes getting teacher unions to make concessions in contracts so bad teachers can be fired.
"Labor has got to participate in a meaningful way in this labor crisis," Sharpton said. "We can't say we are locked into something that locks our kids out."
Sharpton is certainly a controversial dude. But if this means he's going to use that bully pulpit of his to urge Americans to get real about fixing this mess, that seems to me like a good thing. Then again, despite his comments, he didn't seem interested enough in the subsequent discussion to even stick around for it. It could just as well represent another prominent black leader who chooses instead to sit on the sidelines while kids are watching their futures slip away in crappy schools.
At one point, there was so much consensus on the panel about why things don't ever change in public education that Morial felt a need to formally distance himself from the discussion. Note to Reg Weaver: I can vouch that Morial didn't say anything bad about you guys. It seemed very important to him that he get that on the record...
UPDATE - John Branston, of the Memphis Flyer, called the event "The Best Panel You Never Heard" and noted how refreshing/encouraging it was to watch Rhee and Fenty together speaking the same language and clearly committed to getting the job done in DC no matter what kind of hits they end up taking from education cartel.
