We can’t allow Benton Harbor High School to close

BENTON HARBOR, MI —Let the truth be told in the city of Benton Harbor, Michigan, a small city just beside Lake Michigan. The land is so valuable that Whirlpool, the dominant corporation in this region, is the Pink elephant in the room. Whirlpool wants the land that the school sits on for real estate development.
Benton Harbor High School binds the community together. The basketball games are the highlight. Every game is packed. You will find signs all over the city celebrating several state championships.
The struggle in Benton Harbor holds a number of lessons for the American people. The fight over the closing of the city’s only high school is a war. It is about whether Americans will have prosperity and democracy, or live in poverty under the heels of open rule corporate rule.
The problems facing the Benton Harbor School district are severe! According to the state of Michigan, which helped create the problems, the high school must close. Only 3 percent of the third graders in Benton Harbor schools read at grade level and fewer than three high school juniors have been deemed college ready in each of the last five years, says the state of Michigan. Enrollment is down. The families of some children living in the city district choose to send their children to other school districts and the district is drowning in debt, which was partly created by the state of Michigan.
BANCO (Black Autonomy Network Community Organization) says that transforming Benton Harbor schools into thriving schools can be done. We have to develop a plan. BANCO has a six-point plan: (1) Curricula that is engaging, culturally relevant and challenging, also have an after school program. (2) An emphasis on high quality teaching, not on high-stakes testing. (3) Wrap around supports and opportunities such as health care, eye care and social and emotional services, and support academics. (4) Positive discipline practices, such as restorative justice.(5) Authentic parent and community engagement. 6) Inclusive School Leadership.
BANCO’s recommendations are aligned with the community’s need to keep the school district open. We must not allow Benton Harbor High School to ever close. The community has spoken. Benton Harbor High School will not close.

Rev. Edward Pinkney

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