Occupy Middle School

APS rezoning: Coan plan no longer part of the plan | Creative Loafing Atlanta
Last weekend, I attended a rally to save Coan Middle School in Edgewood. At least I'm pretty sure that's what it was. The messaging, as PR people like to say, was a little scattershot.

This morning, I saw a news article. At least I'm pretty sure that's what it was intended to be. The research, as we journalism school graduates like to say, was a little sucky.

The little blue box next to the headline said "News", though, so I suppose I have to take their word for it. Didn't interview anybody, didn't identify any organizers, didn't get any names. There was a photo of parents (one presumes) and a kid, all holding placards which appear to have been written by the same hand. The photo is credited, with no apparent irony, to "Eric Celeste's iPhone". Perhaps Eric didn't actually go, himself. That would explain why he wasn't sure what was going on.

You know, if you had walked up to a group of people obviously trying to attract press attention and said "I'm from Creative Loafing [which some people consider to be a news organization], who's in charge here?" you would probably have gotten a nice quotable statement or two. Or at least a name.

Every time a speaker [sigh] addressed the 200-or-so parents and kids in front of the school, he or she would begin a chant as soon as a decent phrase escaped the lips. These included, but were not limited to, the following: "Invest in Coan," "Davis listen," "keep Coan open," "strong schools, strong community," "it's not fair," "Say no to Davis," "our neighborhood, our school," "this is our school," and "invest in the future."

So, adults claiming to be concerned with education have decided that the Occupation is the civic activism model they want to adopt, seeing as how it has worked so well everywhere it has been tried. Any argument longer than four words is Too Hard. I weep for public intercourse in the 21st century.

So, I get that you, clever reporter, understand that APS no longer plans to use the Coan Middle School building as a "6th grade academy" extension of Inman Middle School. And I get, because you linked back to your own previous "reporting", that APS still intends to close Coan Middle School. That's a given: It's running at less than half capacity. Do somebody a favor and figure out why it's running at half capacity.

Or can't your iPhone take that picture without you?