Furious parents at school board meetings have a right to speak. We should listen to them.

School closures are always difficult, disruptive by nature. And no matter how dismal a school’s performance, many parents and students fight ferociously to keep their schools open. The parents who came out that night were mostly working people, primarily Black and brown. Facing the loss of a community, uncertainty about the safety of their kids, insecurity about what lay ahead given a dearth of quality alternatives, they let us know, loud and clear, that they would do whatever they could to get the members of the PCSB to change our minds.