Submitted by Kerry Queen (not verified) on October 18, 2006 - 15:07.
I live in North Omaha in Nebraska. I support L.B. 1024 and all the new territory that goes with it.
My family is considered to be white in an area that is mostly minority. I am Originally from Ft. Collins, Colorado but my husband is a sixth generation resident of Omaha. I have never experienced a school district such as the Omaha Public School District before. The district is disconnected from the parents and students that attend its schools. For ten years we have tried to get this massive machine to realize it is failing but to no avail.
My family and I have had meetings with Superintendents, Assistant-Superintendents and state senators to show the problems we are encountering with a system that does not acknowledge complaints much less solve them. The state senators have been responsive to our efforts by forming the Learning Community but OPS still refuses to acknowledge the solutions we have brought to the table.
My husband is an Omaha Police veteran of 18 years on the force. He has always worked in North Omaha. With disturbing regularity he encounters people who cannot read or write. Many of the teenagers he has contact with were kicked out of school at a very young age. Most parents have been banned and barred from school property. This problem leads to a disconnect with the educational process that in turn leaves no economic hope for our area of Omaha.
Without an educated workforce we cannot get businesses to locate in our area. While most places are fighting to keep Wal-marts out of their communities we can't get one here to save our lives. Paypal has its main office in our metropolitan area and chose to locate it where the company is having a hard time finding workers. North Omaha was never in the running for the location. North Omaha has Eppley airfield and railroad access. This important transportation access should be a boone to our community but due to lack of an educated workforce it isn't.
This vicious cycle of lack of education is a minority issue in the state of Nebraska. This state has one of the highest graduation rates for white students in the country but one of the worst graduation rates for minorities (see the Manhatten Istitute study). As well, unemployment for Douglas County (of which Omaha is the county seat) is running at 4.4% but North Omaha is showing an astounding 26% rate.
Most recently my family filed for information about ban and bars from Omaha Public Schools. We filed under the freedom of information act and received a list from May of 2001 to May of 2006. What OPS gave us was a list that only included one school in what is considered to be west Omaha. The vast majority of the ban and bars were located in North Omaha with a smattering found in South Omaha where there is a large Hispanic and Black population. This unfortunate information gives us a snapshot of racism at its most insidious level.
What we are asking for as a community is the right to have access to and control in our public schools. That is what public means. People choose to live where they want to and that is their right in this country. Most people choose to live within their comfort zone and you will find that it most resembles "birds of a feather" type communities. As long as everyone is treated fairly why is that a problem?
In the words of that great En Vogue song: Free your mind and the rest will follow, be color-blind don't be so shallow!
I live in North Omaha in
Submitted by Kerry Queen (not verified) on October 18, 2006 - 15:07.
I live in North Omaha in Nebraska. I support L.B. 1024 and all the new territory that goes with it.
My family is considered to be white in an area that is mostly minority. I am Originally from Ft. Collins, Colorado but my husband is a sixth generation resident of Omaha. I have never experienced a school district such as the Omaha Public School District before. The district is disconnected from the parents and students that attend its schools. For ten years we have tried to get this massive machine to realize it is failing but to no avail.
My family and I have had meetings with Superintendents, Assistant-Superintendents and state senators to show the problems we are encountering with a system that does not acknowledge complaints much less solve them. The state senators have been responsive to our efforts by forming the Learning Community but OPS still refuses to acknowledge the solutions we have brought to the table.
My husband is an Omaha Police veteran of 18 years on the force. He has always worked in North Omaha. With disturbing regularity he encounters people who cannot read or write. Many of the teenagers he has contact with were kicked out of school at a very young age. Most parents have been banned and barred from school property. This problem leads to a disconnect with the educational process that in turn leaves no economic hope for our area of Omaha.
Without an educated workforce we cannot get businesses to locate in our area. While most places are fighting to keep Wal-marts out of their communities we can't get one here to save our lives. Paypal has its main office in our metropolitan area and chose to locate it where the company is having a hard time finding workers. North Omaha was never in the running for the location. North Omaha has Eppley airfield and railroad access. This important transportation access should be a boone to our community but due to lack of an educated workforce it isn't.
This vicious cycle of lack of education is a minority issue in the state of Nebraska. This state has one of the highest graduation rates for white students in the country but one of the worst graduation rates for minorities (see the Manhatten Istitute study). As well, unemployment for Douglas County (of which Omaha is the county seat) is running at 4.4% but North Omaha is showing an astounding 26% rate.
Most recently my family filed for information about ban and bars from Omaha Public Schools. We filed under the freedom of information act and received a list from May of 2001 to May of 2006. What OPS gave us was a list that only included one school in what is considered to be west Omaha. The vast majority of the ban and bars were located in North Omaha with a smattering found in South Omaha where there is a large Hispanic and Black population. This unfortunate information gives us a snapshot of racism at its most insidious level.
What we are asking for as a community is the right to have access to and control in our public schools. That is what public means. People choose to live where they want to and that is their right in this country. Most people choose to live within their comfort zone and you will find that it most resembles "birds of a feather" type communities. As long as everyone is treated fairly why is that a problem?
In the words of that great En Vogue song: Free your mind and the rest will follow, be color-blind don't be so shallow!