OHCHR-UNOG
1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland
Friday, Oct. 5, 2007
To Whom It May Concern:
I realize this may be something of a stretch -- all right, a big stretch -- but I was wondering whether the deplorable condition of many U.S. public schools, particularly in the context of the United States being the richest nation on Earth, might constitute violations, at least in principle, of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. I was thinking, particularly, of Articles 24 and 26: Article 24
1. Every child shall have, without any discrimination as to race, colour, sex, language, religion, national or social origin, property or birth, the right to such measures of protection as are required by his status as a minor, on the part of his family, society and the State.
Article 26
All persons are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to the equal protection of the law. In this respect, the law shall prohibit any discrimination and guarantee to all persons equal and effective protection against discrimination on any ground such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.
Attached are photographs I took last week at my old high school, Baton Rouge (Louisiana) Magnet High School, from which I graduated in 1979. What I found there would seem to indicate that the school, which was not in that condition when I attended there, has been allowed to deteriorate into a state of abject ruin by the East Baton Rouge Parish (county) School Board. It would appear there has been no meaningful maintenance on the building in the 28 years since my graduation, and that the copious amounts of peeling lead-based paint, crumbling terra cotta and plaster, pothole-sized craters in the gymnasium floor, rusted-over metal surfaces and gym lockers, as well as fetid, deteriorating restrooms pose a clear and present threat to the health and well-being of students who spend eight-plus hours a day there.Furthermore, I've been informed that Baton Rouge Magnet High School is far from the only East Baton Rouge Parish school in that condition, just a particularly egregious example. One could find many schools across the American South -- and in many Northern urban centers -- in similar condition. Again, this in the context of the richest country on Earth.
I also note that -- while many Baton Rouge schools were in relatively poor condition when I matriculated some three decades ago -- Baton Rouge High's deterioration seems to have coincided with the school system's transition from 65-percent (or so) Caucasian to roughly 80-percent African American in racial makeup.To my mind, this reflects the abject failure of school-system governors, as well as the local electorate and political and civic leadership, to provide clean, safe and adequate educational facilities for all the community's children, regardless of race, class or socio-economic status. Could not this be interpreted as a clear violation of Articles 24 and 26 of the Covenant? After all, parents with the income and inclination are able to shield their children from fetid educational facilities; the poor and working-class, largely, are not.
Is not a proper education in clean, safe, reasonably maintained facilities -- according to the standards and means of their particular country and region -- a basic human right? And is it proper for parents to expect they must pay a surcharge in private-school tuition to obtain what world governments are charged to provide as a basic service to their citizens?
These are the questions I have, and I eagerly await guidance in this matter.
Sincerely,
The Mighty Favog
cc: Charlotte Placide
Superintendent
East Baton Rouge Parish Public Schools
2 comments:
yeah, it's kind of the same politics that invites polititions to raise taxes to pay millions of dollars for a new baseball field for a week of baseball a year, but here we have two homeless shelters close due to lack of funding....
Similar, but not quite. I don't know that one is necessarily related to the other, so far as building a new baseball stadium in downtown Omaha goes.
With the stadium, you can argue there's a big economic upside, and that there will be a hefty return on the investment economically. But you also have to realize, as a community, that we have a basic humanitarian obligation to the homeless and step up in that arena AS WELL.
With the crumbling of Baton Rouge High, there is only abject neglect. No "either or," or "this and."
The other difference, of course, is I'm much more confident that, in Omaha's case, civic leaders will step up to the plate, so to speak, and address the homeless-shelter problem as the inequity and social costs are illuminated.
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