While feminists across the country were enjoying their day off on the couch in the name of “activism” on Wednesday, hundreds of thousands of children were left without a day of educational instruction.
The Washington D.C. area school districts that closed down as a result of the “A Day Without a Woman” protests cater to majority minority populations and “at-risk” students, meaning some of the most vulnerable students were made left behind.
According to demographic information on the Alexandria City Public Schools page, as of 2015, the public school system was 29.32 percent black and 36 percent Hispanic. The school system was also 4.63 percent Asian, 0.21 percent Native American, 0.16 percent Native Pacific Islander, and 2.58 percent multiracial. Overall, minorities made up 72.9 percent of the Alexandria City Public Schools system.
Of those Alexandria public school students, 58.28 percent qualify for free or reduced lunch. While alternative arrangements were made for students who rely on the school to provide lunch, the students who receive free lunch are often the ones who live in poverty and rely on their education to better their circumstances.
Prince George’s County Public Schools, which canceled classes a mere few hours before the start of school on Wednesday, also enrolls a majority-minority population.
According to the student demographic information on the Prince George’s County Public Schools website, the school system is 61.4 percent black and 29.6 percent Hispanic. Asians make up 2.8 percent of the student population, while Native Americans are 0.4 percent, Pacific Islanders are 0.2 percent, and multiracial families are 1.5 percent. In total, the Prince George’s County Public Schools system is 95.8 percent minority.
Like the Alexandria City Public Schools system, a majority of students enrolled in Prince George’s County Schools also qualify for free or reduced lunch. The Prince George’s County Public Schools website claims 63.8 percent of students qualify for free or reduced lunch. Prince George’s County Public School also made similar arrangements to have lunch provided for students.
In addition to the two Washington D.C. suburb schools that closed in observance of “A Day Without a Woman,” the Center City Public Charter Schools system in Washington, D.C. proper also closed as a result their female teachers taking the day off.
The Center City Public Charter Schools serve students in Brightwood (88.3 percent black and Hispanic with 35.9 percent of students “at-risk”), Petworth (94.9 percent black and Hispanic with 37.8 percent of students “at-risk”), Shaw (90.5 percent black or Hispanic and 50.2 percent of students “at-risk”), Trinidad (97.9 percent black with 57.60 percent of students “at-risk”), Capitol Hill (98.4 percent black and 49 percent “at-risk”), and Congress Heights (100 percent black and 68.5 percent “at-risk”).
For people who care about social justice issues -- as the people involved in “A Day Without a Woman” claim to be so concerned about -- depriving poor minority students of the “right to an education” to show how much you truly care about them is contradictory and self-defeating. By choosing to opt out of their duty to educate students to make a political point, the Washington D.C. area teachers who called out of work did a disservice to the students they’re entrusted to help grow.
Forcing entire school districts, which serve thousands of students, to close down for the sake of “sending a message” does nothing but rob students of the chance to get the education they need to escape the cycle of poverty, which is what true social justice should be about.
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