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"Eastern, at Stadium-Armory, does not yet have many well-off families sending kids there, but that is poised to change."

Oh? That would be great, as I live a block and a half away. But I'm not sure it will happen in time for my oldest (now in 3rd grade).

It's a tough problem for me. Every day at 3:30 to 5 my block is faced with gangs of school kids walking down the street, letting out from Eastern, Eliot-Hine MS, and a few nearby charters.

Most of these kids (especially the somewhat older Eastern students) are well behaved and civil. But enough are not, breaking windows, vandalizing cars, throwing rocks, fighting with each other and quite a bit of other behavior that is frankly unacceptable.

MPD, Tommy Wells and his staff, and the schools themselves (to varying degrees) have been proactive in dealing with the issue, but it crops up again every fall. It's a tiresome local issue, and only a small distraction in what is otherwise a great neighborhood.

But I don't see how I could send my children to schools which produce students that are happy to call a 2nd grader "cracker" and bash my face in (not theoretical, btw). The level of resentment and outright hatred against white people is disappointing, but I'm not going to put my kid in the middle of it. Even if (and I fully believe it is) a small percentage of the total student body.

So, yeah, that's going to work against diversity.

by Tim Krepp on Jul 23, 2012 11:57 am • link • report