SIMMONS: Hey, ‘parents’: Have a kid, raise that kid

ANALYSIS/OPINION:

Now that everyone is adjusting to normal school routines, it’s time to talk about before-, during- and after-school programs.

We’ve got it wrong, and by we I mean black people.

We’ve been hoodwinked, bamboozled, steered in the wrong direction about before-, during and after-school programs, and if we don’t flip the script, this and the next generation of black kids are going to be worse than the last.

Here’s the problem: We have stopped parenting, and instead we plopped our children into the laps of politicians and bureaucrats who don’t care, and latched onto the universal pre-K train just to get another free ride.

Here’s the solution: Have a kid, raise that kid.

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Now, I know I’ve crawled onto a limb. But admit it: Too many of us — and by “us,” I mean us black folk — use public schools as glorified, free baby sitters for our children. So we shove then into the schoolhouse in the morning to eat, after which we expect some measure (an increasing smaller and smaller measure) of teaching and learning (and another meal) to be dished for the next six hours, and then when the bell rings again, our kids are ushered into after-school programs where yet another crew of baby sitters takes over.

The kids eat free, so you don’t have to cook. They ride the bus and the rails free, so you don’t have to scrounge for transportation costs. Heck, your kid can be late getting to school and you can be late picking them up in the evening, and it won’t cost a dime. It doesn’t cost — as real baby sitters and day care centers do — because the government’s got your back.

But, baby, let me warn you, because it’s going to cost you and your kid in the end.

When they cannot get into college or career after high school.

Or they cannot get a job.

Or your grandkid’s Baby Daddy can’t keep a job.

This is a particularly crucial discussion in the District since this is a mayoral election year and not one of the top three candidates gets it (even though they religiously “get it,” according to The Washington Post).

And in case you really haven’t been paying attention, those three candidates are Democratic nominee Muriel Bowser, and independents Carol Schwartz and David Catania, who seemingly mean well, as each espouses fair play and has an opinion about the current chancellor, Kaya Henderson, and her boss, Mayor Vincent C. Gray and how future funding should be spent.

In fact, their rhetoric is familiar: “high-quality” this and “more resources” for that.

But it’s 2014, for crying out loud, and Ms. Bowser, Ms. Schwartz and Mr. Catania sound like they are regurgitating Supreme Court arguments initially formulated for the Brown v. Board case decided way back in 1954.

For certain, inadequate educational facilities, a lack of textbooks and outright discrimination were the primary roadblocks to parents getting a “high-quality” public education for black kids prior to the high court’s landmark ruling. Today, something sinister is in play.

Blacks run the city and the school system, and schools are as likely to have black maintenance crews as black principals, teachers and coaches. And there no longer is a track system, where some black students were academically challenged at school and at home, while others were pushed toward the trades and low-level jobs.

And that is our misfortune.

Children aren’t being challenged before, during or after school.

We let people like Mr. Catania persuade us into thinking our children have inherent emotional and mental issues (and the D.C. Council and mayor agreed), and we let people like Ms. Schwartz and Ms. Bowser tell us we need to keep Ms. Henderson as chancellor.

Well, if our kids are that screwed up, it doesn’t matter who is superintendent, now does not?

We need to stop depending on “The Man” to do our bidding and stop thinking “The System” can raise our children.

Not all of us are in the same boat — there are children who succeed in life and even become highly productive and wealthy despite their parentage. (Barack Obama is a perfect example.)

Have a kid, raise that kid.

Before, during and after school hours.

That’s the bargain you signed onto when you became a “parent.”

Not a sermon, just an election-year tirade.

• Deborah Simmons can be reached at dsimmons@washingtontimes.com.