Martin rally promotes education

Members of two local NAACP chapters are urging their members to hold all elected leaders accountable, particularly when it comes to public education.

While stomping for justice in the death of 17-year-old Florida teen Travyon Martin, members of the Lafourche and St. Mary Parish Chapters of the NAACP say the recent changes in public education, which emphasize vouchers to private schools and charter schools, demean public education.

Eva Shanklin, founder of the Lafourche Parish Chapter of the NAACP and the current

state Women In the NAACP Coordinator, feels Gov. Bobby Jindal’s plans send a strong message – one that is not positive for Louisiana.

“Gov. Jindal has, for the most part, informed low to middle income families,‘Hey, your child’s education is now on my back burner,” she said. “But we’ve done this to ourselves. We didn’t vote.

“We still can’t come together as a people, even to fight for this one important issue – education.”

Burnell Tolbert, the current president of the Lafourche NAACP, agreed with Shanklin’s statements and said he sees the bill as racial profiling.

“It’s just another example of how so many people view us as trouble makers,” Tolbert said.

“Now mind you, not all white people or Asian people feel this way. But frankly, it’s true.

We’re not interested in your C, D and F child.”

St. Mary NAACP Vice-President Willie Peters, also a former long-time St. Mary Parish

School Board Member, says the bill will affect every race, not only African American

children.

“We’ve got to go beyond registering people to vote. We have to hold our elected leaders accountable,” he said. “Call them. They’re supposed to be there working for us, not in the capitol playing solitaire, as I’m sure some of them are, as even some were quoted in the media as not having understood the bills they voted on.

“It’s just not right! Taking thousands of dollars out of our schools, to pay for children to attend private schools that cost way more than the $4,500 voucher they may get from the governor. And still, if they get a voucher, will that child be admitted? Charter Schools equals selective admission to me. You know and I know a child with special needs won’t be admitted in a private school. It’s not going to happen!”

Peters said he also has issues with Gov. Jindal selecting New Yorker John White as the new superintendent of public education.

“Nobody knows who this guy is. But more importantly, what does he know about the culture of Louisiana?”

Reginald Weary, St. Mary NAACP President, said, “it all boils down to accountability.”

“It’s simple. If we keep putting the same people in office, we’re going to get the same results. And the choice begins with who we elect as governor,” he said.

St. Mary Parish Councilman Albert Foulcard, attended the NAACP rally. Foulcard is also a former educator and a long-time principal.

“Children learn from each other. Why should the A and B students be removed from a C, D and F setting?” he asked. “There is an old story about two children in an elementary school. One was

having difficulties distinguishing the lower case letters b and d. ‘Which is which, the child said. I keep getting them mixed up!’ And all of a sudden, the other child says, ‘I can tell you. The lower case b has his belly sticking out in the back, and the lower case d has his belly sticking

out in the front.’ Charter Schools and vouchers will leave public schools behind. I can promise you that.”