United Federation of Teachers (UFT) President, Michael Mulgrew has been fond of invoking an ugly historical term "separate but equal" (here) by twisting it to apply to charter schools. His union issued a report at the beginning of this month which demanded a laundry list of anti-charter school provisions and entitled the report "Separate and Unequal." It's not enough for teacher unions to oppose charters; they use racial demagoguery to smear them, too.

This is odd and insulting coming from the UFT, considering the fact that charter schools are heavily populated by African-American students by the choice of their parents and guardians. The Chalkboard also dealt with some of this issue previously raised by the UFT (here).

Much of Mulgrew's anti-charter agenda is captured in the new Race to the Top legislation that would inhibit chartering through an RFP process and turning SUNY into a charter carcass, subservient to the Regents, from its current independent role. It was New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg who well described this bill today as "an insult to parents and children and Dr. King and his legacy," as reported on the Daily Politics blog.

Clarity on Charter Schools-Educational Opportunity-Civil Rights
Is Mayor Bloomberg going too far, connecting charter schools to Martin Luther King, Jr? Not according to the Rev. A.R. Brenard, the Founder and CEO of the Christian Culture Center in Brooklyn. In today's New York Post (here), Rev. Bernard connects charter schools to the civil rights movement by invoking Dr. Martin Luther King, whose birthday we celebrate today, by writing: "For people of color, education may be the most important civil right." Rev. Bernard goes on to say that charter schools should be expanded, along with other reforms, to "improve education [and] empower local communities to take control of their public schools.

Rev. Bernard also chastised the legislature for resisting President Obama's call for reform "in deference to the education establishment."

Which brings me back to UFT's Michael Mulgrew: Just who is he to invoke "separate but unequal" to disparage charter schools? His agenda against charters is an attack on a key component of educational quality opportunity and civil rights today.

Peter Murphy
for The Chalkboard