Taking Over “Public School”

As public schools are being decimated through corporate takeovers by charters, the idea of “public schools” seems to have become a new hipster relic.

I came across this guy who runs a nonprofit corporation called Public School. In other words, it’s not a public school.

A public school is a government-operated entity that’s controlled by a democratically elected Board of Education.

A nonprofit is a corporation that’s run by a Board of Directors. Who picks the board members? It’s in the bylaws, and it could be a Nominating Committee. Who picks that committee? I don’t know. Maybe the Board of Directors?

Over here in LA, there’s an art organization called The Public School Los Angeles. They are progressive/left, but recently, got into some hot water because they put on an event about gentrification, and didn’t work with left groups in the community in which the gallery operates.  Side one: CCED. Side two: TPSLA.

We also have a chain of restaurants called “Public School 213” (or a different area code for the different areas).  It’s a gastropub.  I think the name is mainly about the decor and furniture.

This is reminiscent of a clothing store called “Unionmade”, which, with a few exceptions, sells products that are not union-made.

Let’s not let the popular institutions turn into relics. We can bring back the real idea of “public schools” by supporting and using real public schools.