School fiscal crises are occurring all across the country. Educational programs are being abolished and services to children are curtailed. Only in New York City have the cutbacks so far been averted, thanks to the strength of an unprecedented coalition of forces which included parent groups, elected community school boards, the entire labor movement, the civil rights movement and high school student groups. Credit must also go to the central Board of Education for continuing to operate the schools with a full level of services until the money ran out and to Comptroller Abraham Beame, who resolved the crisis with a bookkeeping device which other governmental agencies were already using.
But the fight is far from over. July 1st is the beginning of a new budget year, and talk of budget cuts and taxpayer revolts at City Hall and in Albany could be the prelude of yet another struggle to prevent educational deterioration. Since the coalition may have to act again, it is important that we bring to light the actions of two major groups, which should have been allies in the struggle but were not. The two groups are the "fighters for community control" and the high school principals.
It is ironic that these groups, from almost opposite ends of the spectrum of school politics, were bedfellows in their opposition to the massive coalition which came together to save the schools. One reason is that both groups have as a primary concern their own particular type of power, which for them takes precedence over the need for improved education for children.
The real purpose of the "community control" groups was exposed last week when, in the face of disastrous cuts in services to a million children, Evelina Antonetty (United Bronx Parents), Al Vann (Afro-American Teachers), the ousted leaders of Ocean Hill-Brownsville, the group around I.S. 201, and the group that promoted the recent violence at George Washington High School announced: "DON'T GIVE MORE $$ TO PRESERVE A CORRUPT SCHOOL SYSTEM - LET THE COMMUNITIES RUN THE SCHOOLS AND CLOSE DOWN CENTRAL HEADQUARTERS."
While the school children of New York City faced the prospect of having their education totally disrupted and destroyed, these "community control" groups declared: "If you give one more dime to that decaying bureaucratic maze at 110 Livingston Street, you might as well be burning your money." While they vociferously denounce the school system "establishment," United Bronx Parents and the Afro-American Teachers Association do not hesitate for a moment to seek and accept the funds of such bureaucratic establishment groups as the Urban Coalition. Thus comfortably financed, they have no scruples about sacrificing the children in their own communities for a "longer-range" goal - getting into their own hands the money used to run the schools. In their usual style, they have tried to promote a confrontation by urging that the budget cutbacks be seized upon as an opportunity to "fire incompetent teachers" and as a justification for breaking union contracts.
Fortunately the United Bronx Parents and the Afro-American Teachers Association do not represent anyone but themselves, and the school budget cuts were restored because parents and community school boards preferred educational services for their children to control over the community by self- appointed "leaders."
Surely there is something basically wrong when the wealthy individuals in the Urban Coalition, most of whom pay for expensive private schools for their children, use that organization to finance campaigns in minority group communities to convince the people that money isn't important.
Weak Stance by High School Principals
High school principals have sounded very militant in recent years. They have frequently attacked the central Board of Education and the Chancellor for permitting school decay; but, faced with the prospect of disastrous cuts which would have led to increased violence and drug abuse in high schools, they refused to follow the lead of community boards, parents and teachers in defying the central board's orders and in participating in a massive demonstration against the budget cuts. With a few exceptions, high school principals announced that they would comply with the cuts and used threats and intimidation in an attempt to prevent students and teachers from participating in the planned protest.
High school principals have often been under unfair attack themselves, and they may be right in their protestations that some school deterioration is due to actions of the Chancellor and the Board of Education. Adherence to fair and orderly procedures and regulations is important in maintaining a meaningful educational atmosphere in our schools. But, even with good rules established by the central authority, principals must act with courage and determination if these rules are to work. In their recent display of weakness the principals have provided good reason to suspect that many of their tough-sounding public outbursts may very well be a cover-up for their own failure of nerve in tough situations.
The resoluteness and success of the recently activated Citywide Coalition to Save Our Public Schools set a proud and auspicious example for our school community. It demonstrated that, despite differences, people truly concerned with the need for decent education for our children share basic goals and can pull together to provide a powerful lobby for support of the schools. Those who continue to want to "do their own thing" should take heed.