At first glance, the edifice pictured here might resemble a jail. Its windows, few and far between, are completely tinted on both sides making it virtually impossible to see in or out and blocking the entrance of sunlight. But this is actually Latonia Elementary School, where I attended kindergarten and part of the 1st grade. The school was constructed in 1972, on a shoestring budget. The school also does not have walls. A two-story building, it was constructed open dormitory style. It’s rumored that it actually was intended to be a jail. Instead, large cubicle like dividers and cubbies that did not touch the ceilings were used to partition the classrooms. This made for an incredibly distracting and noisy learning environment as sound reverberated from one side of the building to the other.

A project to wire Latonia Elementary School for the Internet released Asbestos containing fibers and contaminated the building in 1998. It is not my intention to criticize the quality of education at this school. My mother taught there for nearly 20 years, including during the period of the asbestos incident. What is needed is a new, modernized elementary school for the people of Latonia. This is yet another example the desperate need for upgraded infrastructure in our country, and of the disparities between classes in this state, country, and planet. Below is Samuel Woodfill Elementary School, just 15 minutes from Latonia Elementary School, in the affluent Neighborhood of Fort Thomas. As an egalitarian socialist, I believe public education is of utmost importance to a productive and informed society, and there should be equal access to quality education. A child who lives in poverty deserves access to the same standards of scholarship as the children of upper-class parents. Therefore, I’m also opposed to charter schools. Education is a human right!