On May 22, my youngest child will graduate from high school, and I am ecstatic to see her turn that tassel and move on to her next chapter in life. Is she prepared for what’s next? Did I teach her the right lessons? Did her school provide her with the best education? Without a doubt, I can answer yes to the first two questions, but the last question is one that has bothered me for the last 12 years. Therefore, I got involved and attended countless parent teacher conferences, became PTA President, joined the strategic planning board, hosted fundraisers, and I even ran for an open State House seat and became a State Legislator to enact better education laws. There is one month until my daughter’s graduation, and I just found out that her public high school has been identified as one of the lowest performing schools in Georgia.
In this same month before my daughter’s graduation, my colleagues and I in the Georgia General Assembly were debating the Georgia Opportunity School District legislation, which will allow voters to decide if the state should create a special school district that would work to bring failing schools up to adequate performance. These schools would start from scratch with a new staff, budget and resources. Of course, I helped championed this legislation. There were many legislators who were on the fence about this proposal, some only agreeing with parts of the bill, and some viewpoints were “night and day.”
Why hasn’t there been a plan for improvement provided by those who oppose Opportunity School District legislation? It doesn’t take much courage to merely express discontent, but it does take courage to provide suggested solutions when discontent arises. Every time a student, regardless of race, is not properly educated, then society picks up the slack in the welfare and penal systems. The amount of money invested in educational institutions is, at times, more than 50% of taxes collected by a city, county and/or state.
At the helm of the opposition is the idea of discrimination by zip codes. When you hear the words “failing schools,” one would believe that this is a new term. However, in April 1972, the ERIC Institute published their report titled A NO-FAIL ATTITUDE IN AN INNER-CITY SCHOOL, which took an in-depth look at W. H. Crogman, an Atlanta Public Elementary School located in a primarily African American, low-income community. What was different about the education systems in the early 70’s that made students, teacher and parents exhibit pride when low income students performed at or above the national average? The leaders at Crogman took an aggressive approach to ensure the school’s success which included: (A) developing responsibility within the pupil for his/her own learning, (B) having pupils assume leadership roles, and (C) developing academic achievement plans for each pupil. Are these the same objectives embedded in our struggling schools today?
Many argue that funding crises are at the core of the issues within these schools, but I believe that just like when you are starting a new business, you will never have enough money – these schools will never have enough money. It’s going to take innovative thinking and resourcefulness to change things. I’m not saying there aren’t opportunities to improve funding mechanisms, but are our schools effectively managing their budgets and resources? Are there other factors at play? We can’t continue to use this as an excuse! Very few districts have mastered the art of inclusiveness with students, educators, parents, and business leaders. All of the schools with low performance, low graduation rates, low staff morale, and low business partnerships have common denominators which can be echoed throughout the halls of the schools. Parents believe their voices are not valid, educators are not encouraged to be creative, nor supported through needed policy changes, students are not expected or motivated to be high achievers, and establishing business relationships within the community is frowned upon as a nuisance. To expect a different outcome is not realistic. Starting from scratch, with the right mixture would be ideal.
According to a recent article in Fritzwire, a national education newsletter, “to be successful today, students must be civically and digitally literate, globally competent and proficient in critical thinking and problem solving, communication, collaboration, creativity and innovation.” I would also include having family support and business partnerships in that list. The school leaders in those low performing schools must understand that schools are a part of the community. Many times these schools are a safe haven for students. School employees should understand and respect the communities they have decided to serve in without being judgmental. The many social issues facing these neighborhoods warrant nontraditional approaches which require changes in policies locally, statewide, and nationally in order to have a chance at being effective.
I stand behind my “yes” vote on the Opportunity School District Bill because we have to aggressively address and fix these failing schools, and it’s going to take starting over. Just as my daughter is about to have a fresh start on her next chapter in life, our schools are in dire need and will have the opportunity to start fresh under this bill.
Representative Valencia Stovall represents the citizens of District 74, which includes portions of Clayton County. She was elected into the House of Representatives in 2012, and currently serves on the Code Revision, Education, Interstate Cooperation, and Small Business Development committees.
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