I'm so angry- Charter school tells African American girls they must chemically alter their hair?

[Iris]

Hopefully this isn't true. It's being reported today that a school in Ohio has banned, well, just about 75 percent of reasonable hairstyles for school-age African-American girls with natural hair. No "Afro puffs" (the style that results when your hair isn't straight and you pull it back) and no "small twisted braids."

The Root reached out to Horizon Science Academy, where a representative said, "We have about 15 different schools in the state of Ohio" and had "no idea" which campus was responsible for the alleged letter. She could not provide the information or an academy spokesperson to provide a comment.

So, charter schools, which get public monies, can now require little girls to apply chemicals to their scalps in order to receive an education?

And to make me even more upset, someone in my community is saying if they don't like it, they can just "switch schools." Ironically, this person is part of a group who is opposing tearing down some buildings in our town in order to build a government center. Maybe someone should tell him, "If you don't like the new government center, just move!"??????

http://www.theroot.com/buzz/crazy-talk-school-bans-afro-puffs-and-braids

[PDJane]

1. They've removed the ban, thankfully, and apologized.

It is true; however,the feedback they've received has caused them to reconsider, which is a damn good thing.

Whoever the bigot was who proposed this should be fired. I would not be willing to put the chemicals needed to do this on my child's hair. Children are really sensitive to this crap. I wouldn't want those chemicals going on a child's head, period.

[Iris]

2. Thanks for the update.

I was hoping that would be what happens but it really bothers me that charter schools will be doing this thing all over the country. In fact, when The Root contacted the company that owns that school, this was the response:

The Root reached out to Horizon Science Academy, where a representative said, "We have about 15 different schools in the state of Ohio" and had "no idea" which campus was responsible for the alleged letter. She could not provide the information or an academy spokesperson to provide a comment.

These battle are going to have to be fought on a case-by-case basis, further erodin public education and endangering the futures of our children.

[PDJane]

3. Moreover, the move to charter schools guarantees that children don't start life on an even footing.

My biggest frustration is that charter schools are simply not equipped and will not give children the basic grounding that makes a country with public education a cohesive whole. This will simply increase stratification, and it leaves me worried about a future where children know just enough to get by in the place that a future government wants them to be...and not one thing more.

[JustAnotherGen]

4. Tell the someone in your community

Well - what if little red haired girls must BLEACH (you know the heavy chemical process) AND perm their hair and never allow their roots to show.


It's horrifying right?


I'm almost in tears reading this. More the "Well just go someplace else".

Would they say that to a blonde haired blue eyed little girl or is it cute and funny to them when a black (ie ugly worthless leave our country) little girl gets chemical burns on her head?

And this is why I think America is hopeless and sucks.

[Iris]

8. I know. It makes me want to cry from sheer despair.

Why can't people see how wrong this sort of thing is? This crap just goes on and on.

[snot]

5. This is what we get for contracting out essential services.

[Smarmie Doofus]

6. Makes you wonder how well they're going to be able to teach:

slavery, civil war, Jim Crow, civil rights movement, etc. etc. etc.

They can rescind the hair ban; they can't so easily rescind the arrogance, condescension, racism and stupidity that produced it in the first place.

[Iris]

7. exactly.

And it's not how they are going to be able to teach but what they will decide to teach about slavery, civil war, Jim Crow, and the Civil Rights Movement.

It makes me sick to my stomach to think about it.

[proud2BlibKansan]

9. Yep. Rah rah for privatization!

[CrispyQ]

10. This minute long video will break your heart:

The stories I read about school administrators & some of the decisions & actions they take & some of the things they say, are astounding. There are some mean, mean, stupid assholes in charge of the educational process. This story makes me so pissed off, I've got steam coming out of my ears. Someone should be fired for this kind of shit.

[Iris]

13. omg

what the hell is wrong with our society?

[CrispyQ]

15. This brings tears to my eyes everytime I watch it.

[Squinch]

11. Charter schools tend to reflect the values of the corporations that run them.

[HiPointDem]

17. Horizon is a Gulen school; Gulen being a Turkish religious leader with ties to US intelligence.

Gulen-affiliated schools are the largest charter school network in the US. I can't help but think it's likely that some of the money is being skimmed.

The staff is mostly from turkey; gulen schools are major h1b users.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%BClen_movement


Education

Globally, the Gülen movement is especially active in education. In 2009 Newsweek claimed that movement participants run "schools in which more than 2 million students receive education, many with full scholarships".[25] Estimates of the number of schools and educational institutions vary widely, from about 300 schools in Turkey to over 1,000 schools worldwide.

The United States of America is the only country in the world where the Gülen movement has been able to establish schools funded to a great extent by the host country’s taxpayers. In June 2011, New York Times shed light on schools in the United States, revealing that "Gulen followers have been involved in starting similar schools around the country — there are about 120 in all, mostly in urban centers in 25 states, one of the largest collections of charterschools in America." [32]

Federal authorities are investigating several of the movement’s schools for forcing employees to send part of their paychecks to Turkey. In March 2011, Philadelphia Enquirer reported that Federal Agencies including "FBI and the Departments of Labor and Education - were investigating whether some charter school employees were kicking back part of their salaries to a Muslim movement founded by Gulen known as Hizmet."[33]

The schools are also H-1B visa factories. (These visas are supposed to be reserved for highly skilled workers who fill needs unmet by the American workforce.) In 2011, 292 of the 1,500 employees at the Gülen-inspired Harmony School of Innovation, a Texas charter school, were on H-1B visas, the school’s superintendent told the New York Times. The schools claim, according to an article written by Sharon Higgins in the Washington Post, that they are unable to find qualified teachers in America—which seems implausible, given the economic crisis and given that some of these new arrivals teach English, which often they speak poorly, or English as a second language, which often they need themselves.[34]

Some commentators argue that schools are simply moneymakers for the cemaat (Gulen movement) and are the main avenue for building the Gülen community in the United States. In the USA, they obtain a substantial amount of private, state, and federal funding (in addition to tuition fees), and they have proved amazingly effective at soliciting private donations.[

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%BClen_movement#Education

[Squinch]

18. You should make an OP of this.

[lillyandrew]

12. Education

It is true; however,the feedback they've received has caused them to reconsider, which is a damn good thing.

[Iris]

14. Right but this is just one in 1000 of charter schools that are coming soon to a state near you

Think of the time wasted fighting these battles over and over again when the dreaded "government schools" are replaced by "corporate schools".

[HiPointDem]

16. Horizon is a Gulen school, Gulen being the Turkish religious leader with ties to US

intelligence, currently living in exile in Pennsylvania.

He has the biggest charter school network in the US and a far-flung international network of business, education and political interests.