WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 26, 2020
CHESTER COUNTY PRESS
5A
Chester County Press
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Opinion Editorial
A township with its eyes wide open In his introductory remarks before Kennett Township’s passage of a resolution on Aug. 19 that will commit the township to pursue several initiatives as a result of the Black Lives Matter movement, board chairman Dr. Richard Leff read a prepared statement that he had written. “My fellow supervisors and I sit here this evening in humble recognition that we are part of our township’s white majority, that the lenses of our eyes and the frame of our minds have been formed by our similar cultural, historical, and raciallyadvantaged experiences,” Leff read. “Might it be that some of our ordinances, policies and procedures harbor innocent, unintended vestiges of racial bias? I feel that if this is even a possibility, we owe it to our community to investigate and correct any inequities that arise out of our governance.” A deferential overview of Kennett Township would suspect it to be among the last municipalities to engage in the beliefs that have captivated the millions who have joined together in
towns and cities all across America and the world as one large voice set out to, in the late Sen. John Lewis’ words, “Get into good trouble.” The facts speak for themselves. Kennett Township is among the wealthiest municipalities in Pennsylvania, and more than three-quarters of its population is white. A car ride past its beautiful homes, freshly manicured lawns and sweeping vistas of preserved land seems a galaxy removed from the long and ugly litany of systemic racism and police brutality that has led to the murders of several black men and women. The collective and powerful chorus of “Black Lives Matter,” heard at peaceful protests in Kennett Square and West Grove in June, is not a sound that often reverberates in Kennett Township, and there are very few ashen gray sidewalks there for a black man to have his head crushed into by the knee of a white policeman. Upon that deferential view, it would seem to some that the township’s foray into matters such as this is little more than a frivolous sidebar of activity that has no bearing on
its residents. They believe that the township is better suited now to navigate its way through the lingering stench of a major embezzlement scandal, restore its standing in the community, and continue to place its priorities in the normal and myopic governance of a township like holding the line on taxes, clearing roads and paying its bills on time. Yet as he continued to speak, Leff introduced the township’s residents to the rest of the world. “We need to be cognizant of the damage done to people of color far and wide when humiliating acts are committed against people who look like them,” Leff said. “Minneapolis and other big cities seem far away, but just down the road in Chadds Ford, a black man was pulled over in his driveway last year and handcuffed in front of his teenage daughter and wife. Not in our community, but just down the road. “Can you put yourself in that man’s place? In his wife’s or daughter’s place? Now, can you put yourself in the place of a person of color living in our township? It happened just down the road, [so] what’s to say that it couldn’t happen here?”
Dr. Leff spoke about the township’s presence as one of the most prominent points along the Underground Railroad, and its recent restoration of the historic Fussell House – which sheltered slaves on their way north toward freedom – supports this commitment. He spoke about the diverse cultural background that forms local school districts. He spoke about interim Police Chief Matt Gordon, “who is committed to respectful, humane, and equitable enforcement of our laws,” he said, “and who has spoken out in emotional terms of the injustice of what happened to George Floyd in Minneapolis and other gross discriminatory acts and abuses of power.” He continued to dissect the argument that believes that if the atrocities that have claimed the lives of hundreds of black Americans at the hands of racism are not felt in Kennett Township, then there is no reason for the township to join the discussion. “To those who say we have had no incidences of racial bias, I say that is no reason not to act preemptively,” Leff said. “As supervisors, we are sworn to protect the safety and well-being of all of our residents and visi-
tors. Waiting until harm has occurred when the potential for injury has already been identified, leaves scars unnecessarily inflicted. “Some have said that singling out black lives as mattering is unnecessary and redundant; [that] if we believe in the equality of all people, and in the value of life, then all lives and not just black lives matter. We should not have to say Black Lives Matter. Can we all not recognize the historical, sanctioned mistreatment of blacks in this country, and the dark shadow it still casts to this day? “People of color are asking us to listen to them,” Leff said. “They are showing us the pictures of the abuse and inequities of their daily lives. They are asking us, ‘If you see us, if you feel our pain, speak up.’ “I do believe in the equality of all, and that all life matters; but in recognition of past and continued injustices against black people, I will say, “Black Lives Matter, Black lives matter, black lives matter.” And I will keep saying it until blacks and everyone are afforded the same rights and privileges that I enjoy.” As he concluded his prepared statement, Leff assured the township’s resi-
dents that this initiative “does not make us out to be weak or flawed, [but] assures our continued growth and strength.” This newspaper will go one step further: That by this commitment, Kennett Township has shown its resiliency to join the conversation to end systemic racism in this country. We also believe it has set the tone and established a cornerstone of action, one that every other municipality in southern Chester County should follow. By virtue of this commitment, the governance of Kennett Township has proclaimed that the color of our skin should never dictate whether we should orchestrate justice, nor should we measure our choice to enter into the uncomfortable task of changing our nation’s course based solely on our proximity to conflict. Kennett Township’s decision is pulled from the pages that have documented our nation’s highest achievements and have been written into our history books: Change is made possible when we remove our blinders of comfort and see for ourselves what the rest of the world is doing.
Letters to the Editor
‘I will vote for Joe Biden’ Letter to the Editor: This is a response to the opinion piece supporting re-election of Donald Trump based on the threat that policing will be defunded and chaos will reign if Biden is elected. The headline starts with the premise that “Pennsylvania cannot afford defunding the police,” and references a June Philadelphia budget decision that “removes and redirects $33 million from the police depart-
ment budget.” It neglects to note that $19 million of that was the cancellation of an increase proposed in May, which is no longer feasible during a period of revenue shortfall due to the pandemic—the impact of which can arguably be laid at the president’s feet due to his inaction and ignorance of science. The remaining $14 million was redirected to the managing director’s office to be used for crossing guards and public safety enforce-
ment officers. The writer of the opinion piece then links this June decision to an uptick in crime that started in May. All of this is beside the point that the great majority of funding for police departments comes from local and state funding, not the federal government. So Joe Biden’s statement that funding for police could be redirected to dealing with social issues that the police are currently being called to confront should be rec-
ognized as the theoretical policy statement that it is. It also ignores Mr. Biden’s proposal for a $300 million investment in policing contingent on officers mirroring the diversity of their communities. Don’t fall for these weak scare tactics. Be afraid of the consequences of reelecting a narcissist that alienates our allies, cozies up to dictators, ignores our intelligence community, uses our military against our citizens for his own
personal ends, discourages voting, embarrasses the country with playground bullying tactics, surrounds himself with felons, disparages any kind of legitimate expert, punishes anyone who disagrees with him, encourages white nationalists and Nazis, divides Americans against each other and cares only about himself and his friends. I was a lifelong Republican until this year when I changed parties. I will vote for Joe Biden,
a man who has demonstrated his ability to work with people he disagrees with, understands the Constitution and the real definition of the rule of law that puts no one above other citizens, knows the requirements of foreign policy, respects science and expertise, and has empathy for people whose lives and experiences are different from his own. Deborah Gillespie Kennett Square
Guest column
Were millions of dollars in pandemic relief funding really necessary for cyber charter schools? By Brian P. Fox It’s time we shine a light on a critically important issue and start asking some questions. As Pennsylvania’s school districts face revenue shortfalls of $1 billion or more due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Pennsylvania’s charter schools stand to see a windfall of pandemic relief funding while experi-
encing no loss of revenue. First, under the recently enacted state budget, charter schools will receive $15 million in state health and safety grants to address COVID-19-related health and safety needs. This is much needed funding for school districts and brickand-mortar charter schools that plan to offer some sort of adjusted schedule for in-person learning in the
Chester County Press Publisher - Randall S. Lieberman
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fall. But for cyber charter schools that offer all of their instruction virtually, this is simply free money. Next, under the federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief fund, charter schools are entitled to $71 million in emergency, one-time funds to help schools respond to COVID-19 impacts. Brickand-mortar charter schools reasonably incurred additional costs transitioning to an alternative learning system after school buildings were closed in March. In contrast, cyber charter schools should not have incurred the same costs, since their usual instructional method is virtual. Finally, at least 26 charter schools were awarded Paycheck Protection Program loans totaling between $24 million and $56 million which may be used for limited purposes such as payroll costs, continuation of healthcare benefits, interest on mortgage obligations, and rent and utility pay-
ments. Given that charter schools are publicly funded schools, the need for these loans should be questioned, especially in light of the fact that charter schools experienced no loss of revenue due to the pandemic. Any single form of relief funding can potentially be justified as an attempt to ensure that public schools can continue to safely serve their students. However, there are two factors which should make us question the true intention of such funding – and why cyber charters are reaping the rewards when not impacted in the same way. First, Act 13 of 2020 ensured that charter schools would receive no less funding than they were entitled to as of the date public schools switched to online education. While Act 13 also guaranteed school districts the same level of state funding, local revenues were significantly decreased due to the pandemic. Second, 90 percent of charter school
funding comes from mandatory tuition payments from school districts. Those tuition payments are based on the expenses of local school districts from the previous school year, so any impact on school district finances due to the pandemic would take years to impact charter schools. With families stuck at home because of the pandemic and parents considering how to best educate their children, Pennsylvania’s cyber charter schools have also stepped up their advertising hoping to capitalize on the fears of parents who may be reluctant to send their children back to inperson classrooms this fall. Despite apparently needing millions of dollars in pandemic relief funding, cyber charter schools still have plenty of money to spend on television and radio ads. Ensuring public schools can safely educate Pennsylvania’s children as a global pandemic continues is a paramount concern.
School district leaders are very thankful for the relief funding provided by the state and federal governments. But, we need to stop and ask ourselves, where is that funding needed the most? As school districts scramble to find revenues to safely operate, cyber charter schools stand to, once again, be the beneficiaries of a flawed education funding system. Cyber-charters draw resources away from our local schools. Their advertising states they are of no cost to the parents yet it’s the local school district that pays the cyber charter tuition. Cyber charter schools are a direct funnel of public funds to private hands with little to no transparency or accountability on how those funds are used. Cyber charter schools are like a parasite on our K-12 public schools. Brian P. Fox lives in Cochranville, Pa. and volunteers for the Octorara Area School District.