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Our first African American member at First Church was noted educator and politician Peter Clark who joined in 1868. Peter Clark was absolutely brilliant. Within the Cincinnati Public School system, both the former Clark Academy, and now Clark-Montessori were named after him. In the span of 20 years Clark both pioneered education for black Cincinnati, and coalesced the state power of the black vote. Two extraordinary contributions. Ohio Governor George Hoadly, a friend of Clark's and member of this church wrote this of him in a 1885 letter to President Grover Cleveland "His color has kept him in the shadows: had he been a white man, there is no position in the State to which he might not have aspired."

I knew all this when I began the sermon. What I didn't know, and what has given me great hope, is what has changed. America still punishes its poorest, non-white children and families. Their money and color has kept them in the shadows. Within the state of Ohio today poor children are twenty times more likely to be in schools in academic emergency than their peers. Black children are seven times more likely to be in schools in academic emergency.

Last Thursday evening I attended a panel discussion on Cincinnati Public Schools hosted by the Women's City Club. Cincinnati School Board member and former Governor, John J. Gilligan offered these demographic statistics on Cincinnati Public Schools

America still punishes its poorest, non-white children and families, yet something wonderful is being born here in our Cincinnati Public Schools. Something that Peter Clark began, but never fully envisioned in his lifetime, because it just was not possible 100 years ago. Today it is possible. Poverty and color have kept our urban families in the shadows, yet flowers are growing through the cracks in the pavement. Our children, parents, teachers, School Board, Superintendent, and interested citizens are making it so. Cincinnati Public Schools will be reborn, and they will, we will, make the state of Ohio reconsider citizenship and accountability, just as Peter Clark did 115 years ago.

Peter Humphries Clark was born in Cincinnati in 1829. His father was named Michael, and his paternal grandmother was named Betty. There is much we don't know about Betty. She came to Cincinnati somewhere between 1804 and 1817 as a single mother. She brought with her at least one child, Michael, and it is clear that this child's father was a white man.

Betty came as a free woman, and she arrived with some money. There is much speculation that Michael's father was none other than William Clark, of Lewis and Clark fame. This is possible although not proven. Both Betty and William Clark came from Louisville, Kentucky. Whatever the case, the father of Betty's son cared enough probably to free Betty, and then to send her north with money.

I find this absolutely fascinating because it reminds me that all "races" in America are intimately connected. Just last week a group of us working on the Underground Railroad project met with members of Union Baptist church, a black Cincinnati congregation founded in 1831, and a definite participant in the underground railroad. During that meeting members from Union Baptist surprised me more than once by saying "We are so connected" and offering stories from civic clubs and slavery to prove it. One of the challenges of the school levy is to see ourselves as a nation for who we are, deeply and permanently racially connected. If we would but vote to support that connection, instead of against it.

In 1849 Peter Clark helped organize the first black public school in Cincinnati and worked there as a teacher. Within three months there was a problem. Can you guess what it was? The city council did not want to pay for these schools. Historian Lawrence Grossman explains

Ultimately the city council was forced to pay Clark and the other teachers by the Ohio Supreme Court. But oh how little some things change.

In 1991, 140 years later, a lawsuit was filed charging that Ohio's property tax funding system for public education is unfair. Since then the Ohio Supreme Court ruled in favor of the suit. As John Gilligan says "Our state's funding system is a violation of the constitutional rights of our children and the voters." While other states pay 60%-70% of the cost of public education, the state of Ohio only pays for 40% through a regressive property tax system, which is why the voters, you and I, are asked to pass a new levy every six months.

School Board member Sally Warner explains that the state of Ohio, not a poor state, is ranked 50th in the nation on condition of our school facilities. And within the state, the city of Cincinnati has the oldest school buildings. Within three years Peter Clark had his job back. It's been ten years and we still don't have a fair funding system for our public schools.

John Gilligan says "this is not about teachers or poor parenting. It's about poverty and race that plagues our society at every level. The problem of public education is focused in urban centers because that is where the greatest issues of poverty and race are located." Peter Clark knew this was true. He wrote "For one man who is strong enough physically and mentally to break through the hindrances of poverty, there are ten thousand who fail . . . [the federal authority should be] a machine for doing for the citizen any thing which can be more conveniently done by combined than by individual effort." So where is that federal, state, and local authority?

In 1997 the Ohio General Assembly passed a measure requiring that students pass more proficiency tests. At the Women's City Club forum, all three speakers agreed that academic accountability has obscured the larger issue of the financial accountability of our state and its representatives. We expect our poorest children to perform better while we withhold the funds that would make greater improvements possible. Community activist David Phillips said "if we [always] had to pay for performance, we wouldn't have built that stadium down there." Food for thought.

We must reframe this entire conversation. I am tired of being on the defensive about Cincinnati Public Schools and it's not necessary. I say we go on the offensive. Andrew Benson suggested this Thursday evening. He said we should put out a report card on our Assembly. Let's put out a report card on our citizens and voters as well. What does it say about us that our buildings are ranked 50th in the nation? What does it say about us that our educational funding system is unconstitutional, and we've known about it for the past ten years? I have a message for the state of Ohio, "We'll gladly take those tests if you'll show us the money".

At the Women's City Club Forum it was clear that both Andrew Benson and John Gilligan place much of the current responsibility for this problem squarely at the door of the Ohio General Assembly. I agree with them, and in my bitterest moments I am ready to lead the charge. Yet I can't help but also remember that those are our elected officials in Columbus. This is a democracy, and the ultimate power and responsibility lies with you and I, the citizens and voters. We can and must make a difference. Peter Clark risked his entire career to make such a difference.

In 1866 Peter Clark became principal of Gaines High School, the highly successful first black public secondary school in Cincinnati. Throughout most of his adulthood, Clark was an ardent supporter of the Republican party, the party of Lincoln. In the 1870's and 1880's Clark grew increasingly discontent with the Republican party's neglect of African American concerns. The southern Democrats in particular were so racist that African Americans only had one choice, the Republicans, yet the Republicans continued to ignore them.

In 1883 Clark campaigned for his Democrat friend and First Church member, George Hoadly. Hoadly was elected Governor, and to the surprise of some, but not those who knew him, enacted civil rights legislation. In the long-term this permanently forced both Democrats and Republicans to appoint blacks and pass legislation in their favor, a pivotal political turning point for the state of Ohio.

In the long term this also destroyed Clark's professional and political credibility in Cincinnati. When the Republicans returned to office in 1885, Clark was forced out of Gaines High School. A few years later he left Cincinnati for St. Louis, where he lived until his death in 1925. Clark was born and raised in Cincinnati. Only the deepest personal loss and ire of the local community could have caused him to leave. Clark never entered politics again and faded from public memory.

We do well to honor how hard Clark fought, and how much he personally lost. Even today in the issue of Cincinnati Public Schools, personally, the stakes can be quite high. But Clark taught us an important lesson we should never forget, public officials of both parties are influenced by and accountable to the voters. If Clark was able to permanently improve the civil rights of African Americans 115 years ago, certainly we have the power to improve public education for our poorest children and families today.

At the same time as Clark switched parties, he took a very unpopular stand within the African American community. As the state legislature considered integrating public schools, Clark chose to support segregation. He was accused of protecting his job over the long term interests of the children he served. From the lens of the year 2000, this appears true. Yet, over and over again, Clark supported segregation by saying that African American children would not be given the same chance as their white peers.

In the short run Clark was proven correct. Gaines was closed. His African American teachers lost their jobs and were not rehired. The African American students went into white schools with white teachers and did not do as well as they had before. In many ways this is the part of Clark's story that troubles me the most, because this is where America has the most unfinished business.

In this century we have come to see segregation as a very bad thing. Integration is seen as the best way. Yet we have integrated our schools with a superficial and punitive model, and our urban children and families, and America because we are all connected, is paying the price. At the Women's City Club forum David Phillips mentioned that the desegregation of public education resulted in forced busing. Instead of improving neighborhoods and neighborhood schools, children were bused into other neighborhoods. White flight accelerated. Neighborhoods and neighborhood schools were neglected.

We legally "desegregated" our schools without socially desegregating our culture. Today we still have black neighborhoods and white neighborhoods, and it is possible to accurately predict which schools will be in academic emergency based on the number of their children who qualify for a free lunch. How can we compare scores from suburban districts with those from urban districts? We never gave the cities a chance. Eileen Cooper Reed of the Children's Defense Fund in Cincinnati maintains that our neighborhoods are even more economically segregated than ever before. She says, "Now there is real isolation."

What does a community do when it becomes isolated, segregated, trapped? It turns on itself. Last May I attended a School Board meeting where a parent came forward to speak. She spoke of all the good that Cincinnati Public Schools had done for her children in the past (the crowd clapped and cheered). Then she complained about accountability, substandard buildings, teacher performance. She finished by saying she couldn't vote for any levy. I just wanted to yell "WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING?"

When I hear Cincinnati Public School parents say this I can only think that they must be overwhelmed by despair in every avenue of their lives. Communities turns on themselves when they lose hope. There is no more room for creativity, flexibility, experimentation, just punishment and blame.

I ask myself if Peter Clark was right or wrong about segregation in the long term. A bi-racial man, very successful in the both the black and white community, a likely participant in the underground railroad, a friend of a Governor and President of the United States, a man who loyally attended both a white Unitarian church and a black AME congregation, a man who at one point almost emigrated back to Africa, in the end, Clark did not trust America. At an Emancipation Day celebration in 1873 Clark said these words

Peter Clark could only go so far. Now it is up to us to carry his legacy, and a dream he dared not dream, even further. It is up to us to prove him wrong, that integration is also the answer in public education. I think he would be delighted, and even more important, maybe finally free, if he could be wrong. Cincinnati Public Schools is doing its best to prove him wrong.

At the end of August I worked at a "Back-to-School Bus Blitz" in Avondale with 10 other First Church members. The event was sponsored by Cincinnati Public Schools and their supporters. There is all this talk about parents who just don't care (I know I just mentioned one, but I think she is the exception). What I saw that day were mothers and fathers (lots of fathers), and lots of grandparents coming to get supplies and information, anything that would help their children achieve.

And the kids themselves, they were so grateful to get supplies, so grateful to have some attention, it was like the holidays. To be that excited over a backpack, it almost broke my heart. This is not about poor parenting. This is about parents who are too poor to afford school supplies. I heard one school board member say that next year they want to do this again, and to hold it at the neighborhood schools- great idea.

And did you know that our Cincinnati Public School teachers are the first district in the nation, in the nation, who have voted to accept a pay for performance scale? Our CPS teachers will now be judged by evaluative teams on 16 criteria. This is just one sign of the dedication and skill of our Cincinnati Public School teachers. Cincinnati also has more National Board Certified teachers than either the state of Kentucky or the state Indiana. This was not a vote of desperation. This was a vote of pride, confidence, and creativity. Our teachers are showing us the money.

Cincinnati Public Schools have also started other innovative programs like a summer reading program for second and third grade students who have not passed reading tests. Cincinnati has the best scores of all large-city school districts on Ohio 12th Grade Proficiency Tests, and second best on 6th Grade Proficiency Tests. At the Women's City Club forum John Gilligan mentioned the potential development of new programs in Cincinnati, modeled after successful ones in New York City, where urban public schools serve as schools and community centers, remaining open 15 hours a day, 6 days a week, offering programs for children and adults. Cincinnati Public Schools is showing us the money.

They are asking us to show them the money in return. The new levy on this fall's ballot will provide 6 million dollars, 2 million to keep up with inflation, 2 million to reduce class size, 1 million for building maintenance, and 1 million to upgrade neighborhood schools. If you are frustrated with our schools, don't take it out on the children. Vote yes for our kids and ask the state of Ohio for its report card. Ask our local media to do some in-depth reporting on race, poverty, the new CPS teacher's pay for performance scale, and our unconstitutional funding system for public education. And while you’re at it, ask them to [show us the money!], and what happens when our schools don't get it.

Here at First Church there are several ways to get involved. We have yard signs in support of Cincinnati Public Schools in our lobby today. Please take one and display it with pride. We are also collecting money for CASE (Cincinnatians Active to Support Education). Maybe you live in the suburbs or outside the state of Ohio. This is another way to support Cincinnati Public Schools, our tri-state region, and America. Also, on October 7th members of First Church will be registering voters at the Walnut Hills Kroger and Avondale Aldis. There are two shifts available, please see Glenetta Blair for details.

Much of my research for this sermon came from Walter Herz, who is writing a paper on Peter Clark for the Literary Club. I want to close with these words from Walter "[We] should demonstrate high expectations of inner city children by bringing their schools up to the levels of the very best suburban schools, doing it immediately and maintaining them at that level." May we learn from Peter Clark's lessons of accountability and citizenship. May we prove Peter Clark wrong in his choice of segregation. May we pass this levy, and may the State of Ohio [show us the money]. Amen

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