Okay, so I didn't save it on my own, but I was part of the small core group that did, and I can honestly say that if I hadn't been involved, that school might not be there now.
It was 2001 when I tuned into the news and heard my daughter's school, along with some of the most disadvantaged schools in our area, had been slated for closure. They expected to get away with it, and if not for a handful of inner-west die-hards like me they just may have.
It took two years, two reviews, several media events (including one involving the King's Cross Bikers), Australia's best known sculptor, a parliamentary inquiry, an Alan Jones intervention, a serendipitous meeting with a demographer and, eventually, a looming election for the government to realise we had a point and decide to keep the school open.
The closure was an injustice, not just against me personally, but against the community. The government picked us because they thought they would get away with it. Over three hundred children now attend that school, which also boasts high parent participation, an organic garden and exceptional results in the basic skills test.
I'm glad that we won, but more than that I'm glad that we fought and kept on fighting even when others told us to give up. I'm a fighter and won't stand for injustice. And that's definitely something worth liking about me.
I remember when you got the good news. Remember? We were in a cooking class.
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