Atlanta Public Schools

April 16^th 2015

         Bill Torpy, in  his column on the Atlanta Public Schools cheating scandal, touches on a much greater malaise that is affecting our city. The APS scandal is one symptom of the deepening divide between black and white communities, forged by policies in our state and local governments that  marginalize our poorer black citizens.

          Governor Deal has promised additional funding for education but he is simply  funneling back some of the money  that he took our earlier. He and mayor Kasim Reed need to do a lot more and take a hard look at the impact of their policies of spending large sums on business and entertainment for the rich white community, when our black children are falling further into poverty with  fewer education opportunities.

          The actions by our leaders are purely surface symptom containment. We need strong systemic plans that target the real underlying causes of this sad descent back into segregation that is increasing financial and educational inequity in our community.