THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, June 25, 1995 TAG: 9506230203
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 07 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Another View
LENGTH: Medium: 65 lines
With regard to the June 18 Ida Kay's Portsmouth, I am appalled that one of your editors would stoop to such levels to misrepresent a subject that they apparently knew very little about.
I led the group that went to Washington, D.C., to present a differing viewpoint on the Magnet School Grant Application. This was not a decision that was easy to arrive at. In the period that led up to this application, we had a school system which was not known for being fiscally responsible. This school system had established a zoning system which looked like a patchwork quilt with little rhyme or reason. They also had established a zone waiver system based solely on RACE and SPACE.
My group was fighting the concept of race and space. We felt that this concept discriminated against most students in the system, and only benefited the privileged few. For example: An African-American student who lived directly across Turnpike Road from I.C. Norcom High School could not obtain a zone waiver to the math and science program at I.C Norcom or the International Studies Program at Woodrow Wilson because of their race. The message this sent was, if the student did not want to dance and sing at Churchland, they could not participate in any magnet program.
We felt that children were being used as pawns for grant money, and that is wrong. The school system had many community presentations on the grant application. After sending at least two of our representatives to each of these meetings, we realized that the school system was using an entirely different script and presentation in the white and black communities. At these presentations, school representatives could answer very few simple, what-if questions.
I am getting very tired of defending our position against the ignorance of the Norfolk newspapers. Are we proud of what we did? No, but it had to be done. On two occasions, I publicly begged the superintendent of schools and the chairman of the School Board to come to the bargaining table to negotiate some very simple points but they refused. (This was done in the presence of reporters Herbert Lowe and Marc Tibbs). I feel that Ms. Jordan gives our group too much credit, the fact remains that this was a poorly prepared grant application and that very few cities get this money on their first application.
The Portsmouth Citizens for Better Education are sickened by Ms. Jordan's characterization that black youngsters are not average kids. We feel that all children are created equally and deserve the same chances at success. We also feel that children should be given the opportunity to participate in a magnet program based on their interests and abilities and not the color of their skin.
We would also like to point out that with the concept of race and space, that enrollment levels in our public schools dropped by at least 1,000 students. Also, the School Board has seen fit to quietly do away with race as its sole criteria for zone waivers, and now rely on space. The magnet programs have been quite a success since their inception and we applaud that. But, as any fiscally responsible organization should do, these programs were started on a small scale. Perhaps, now is the time for all of us to begin work on a truly magnificent grant application. Next time, maybe we can iron out our differences in Portsmouth and not in Washington.
B. Keith Nance Sr.
Lamper Road
June 21, 1995 by CNB