Making education in Georgia great for all students, begins with us acknowledging that every child isn’t given a quality or equitable education in every Georgia classroom.
Imagine this. . . in 2019 when it rains, your child can’t even walk down the sidewalk safely because the walking pathways to your child’s school are flooded. Even the front parking area where it’s a line of traffic in the front of the school because everyone has to drop off in one space due to unsafe routes to school.
If we don’t care about if our children make it safely to school then we certainly can’t care about the lack of resources teachers receive in order to teach them.
That’s the reality of many children and teachers who walk into schools daily and aren’t supported. Then the current education leader, Secretary of Education, Betsy Devos is decreasing the budget and cutting pivotal programs that support the success of Black and Brown children.
So making education in Georgia should be a priority for everyone! Recently we featured The Atlanta Thrive and LAPPS, two parent organizations that joined together to advocate for equitable and quality educational services for Black and Brown children in Atlanta schools.
If this is a need in Atlanta, think about the many places in Georgia that aren’t quite as diverse? If Black and Brown parents in Atlanta are having a difficult time advocating for equity to people on school boards that look like them, then how much more difficult is is for Black and Brown parents to advocate for equity in places that have never had a diverse school board.
The bottom line is that we should be supporting Black and Brown parents in this movement for educational equity. Not because we are or they are Black and Brown, because we all care about children. We all care if children get a good education. We want children to have the best.
That’s how I see it as a teacher. Parent groups in Atlanta, regardless of what side of town or community it represents wants the same thing. The best educational outcome for their child. That begins with eliminating the barriers that prevent children of color from not succeeding including the stereotypes leading to bias policies impacting them disporpotionately to other children.
Every child isn’t made to feel special when they enter the doors of their school. Every child is not left behind, but that doesn’t mean they are progressively learning either.
The Atlanta Thrive and LAPPS are made up of parents who are empowering fellow parents to disrupt the inequities in Atlanta’s educational system against Black and Brown children. Contact The Atlanta Thrive at [email protected] and LAPPS at
[email protected].
Jason has worked in education for over 15 years as a teacher, blogger and community advocate. He speaks and writes primarily about the need to improve education for Black boys, particularly increasing the number of Black male educators in schools. In addition to blogging here at EdLanta, Jason is also a featured writer at Education Post.