What Does It Matter Anyway?

The Black Coalition to Maximize Education, four students from Maynard Jackson Middle School and a former bond administrator are named as plaintiffs in a suit against the Dallas Independent School District. The suit was filed on July 14 in the North Texas US District court. The filing of this suit is on the heels of school closings in the district which have brought back feelings of Katrina, a time when the home environment of some home schools in Dallas were forced to change because of the new students and what some saw as an inadequate amount of preparation to receive them.

DISD Board Trustee Lew Blackburn surmised last month at the last Board meeting that he feared that the move by the district would be destructive and did take fully into account the needs of students. But this recent suit against the district alleges long time neglect of schools, particularly those located in predominately minority communities. According to the Dallas Examiner, complainants say the buildings their children have attended should have been torn down because of poor conditions. The story goes on to describe janitors having to go in with a line to take care of backed up sewage in some cases. It seems the parents have had enough. But the question is, will this law suit go anywhere or will it just go away? We are all very familiar with the amount of muscle and money the district can apply, especially when what usually happens is that through legal maneuvering and the waiting game they discourage plaintiff's who ultimately just walk away. This law suit, while I am glad to see it happen, is like David fighting Goliath. It is my hope that others will see this and either join in or speak out. No one should except that this is Dallas' best.

There is no amount of new dollars, (i.e. monies from the bond package passed this year) that can change the fact that many of the schools in DISD need to be torn down and are a hazard to the health and students, but the dollars allocated to these schools in this most recent bond package won't be enough to even scratch the surface. The sadder thing is that it took this long for this law suit to come forth. The poor conditions in the district are not new, so where on earth have these folks been while our students suffered through long cold winters and hot summer and fall temperatures, dilapidated bathrooms and falling rafters?

The answer is, IT DOES NOT MATTER! It does not matter that the NAACP, SCLC, Urban League and other organizations based in Dallas have walked away from our students evidenced by their noticeable absence from being named in this suit. IT DOES NOT MATTER that alumni who sometimes have children of their own that attend the failing dilapidated schools have turned a blind eye to what is happening. IT DOES NOT MATTER that stars such as Ms. Badu and Mr. Hargrove return often to support schools like Arts Magnet High School, my own Alma mater, while the rest of the district from which they escaped because of their talent or academic prowess, does the best they can with the scraps and leftovers. WHAT DOES MATTER is that these few people have found the courage to take on Goliath and just maybe if their cause if just, and I believe it is, they too will win the day.