So what are we paying THEM for?

The school board met Tuesday evening---

Plans for which Nashville schools should close, which areas need new schools and which school students will be zoned to attend will be shaped by a community task force created by the Metro school board.

The panel’s task is to create a plan that addresses school use and rezoning in time for the 2009-10 school year and which maintains diversity in the schools.

(snip)
The task force will be responsible for reviewing the way existing buildings are used, recommending specific proposals for better use of under-used buildings and designing zoning recommendations that would “meet the needs of the district with as minimal an impact on students as possible.”

Its work could include deciding where new schools should be built, and whether existing schools should be closed. Tennessean 12-12-2007

This looks more like a way to avoid blame come election time.

Quotes from two African-American members of the BOE. One who seems to view Nashville as the same city is was 22 years ago when he first came on the board and the other from a younger generation:

Board member Ed Kindall expressed concern that the policy that set up the committee “ignores” the issue of diversity.

“I don’t see that anywhere in this proposal,” he said.

[Karen] Johnson said she didn’t feel it necessary to spell out that charge in the policy.

“I’m expecting the diversity issue will be addressed by those we appoint to the task force,” she said.

So where has diversity ensured a good education? KIPP Academy? Tuskegee? Do white children have to be in those classrooms before black children will learn? NO. ALL children need excellent teachers. They need moms and dads that participate in their education. They need school board members who are more concerned about their actual education than the color of the child that sits next to them in class.