Last month, a panel consisting of CORE co-chairs Jackson Potter and Karen Lewis, along with steering committee member Norine Gutenkanst, explained to Progressive Democrats of America what was going on with public education in America.
CORE spoke to the extrememly receptive crowd of like-minded progressives. The panel was moderated by retired teacher Arlene Gloria Hirsch. PDA was kind enough to share videos of the panel discussion.
Jackson Potter:
“As an educator, it has become increasingly obvious to me that the Chicago School Board’s attempt to shutter long-standing neighborhood schools (under a myriad of excuses) and replace them with nonunion charter schools is against the best interests of students.
“What’s really going on? Just as with public housing, Social Security, pensions, or veterans’ health care, we have a nationwide effort to dismantle the ‘welfare state.’”
Norine Gutekanst:
“What NCLB gave our government is a mechanism for privatizing schools.”
Karen Lewis:
“We (CORE) believe in publicly funding public education, not publicly funded private education.”
