B.O.L.D member Andrea Lawful-Trainer, a child advocate, outlines parent’s steps to obtaining equality for their young.
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This piece is not designed in any way to make you feel good, instead the goal is to challenge the way we perceive education, and those children who, based on data and the behavior of adults, are deemed less likely to succeed.
After perusing yet another well written piece on the Good Men Project, this one describing the horrible effects prejudices and assumptions have on children of color, I got tired; and then I got angry; and finally resolved … Enough already!
I cannot tell you how many times teachers quietly informed me that a principal sat in a meeting and belligerently stated that it’s the black children that are ruining test scores. Or what about the conversations that are had in faculty rooms about children of color and their parents? Would you believe me if I told you teachers are very aware of their peers who deliberately target children of color, and yet feel helpless because if they spoke up they’d be ostracized?
How many more bright children will want to give up because they’re told: I don’t care how bright you are, you won’t pass my class? How many more of these crazy stories must we hear before we say enough?
Drastic situations call for drastic measures, so here’s my advice to parents and guardians: start drawing public attention to what’s happening in the classroom. Follow the chain of command: start with the teacher; then go to their immediate supervisor and then the Principal.
The buck usually stops there, but if the problem persists keep a detailed record of every email and every incident and then go to your Board of Education. Communicate your issues as clearly as you can, and if for some crazy reason the problem continues, reach out to the Department of Education at the State and Federal levels.
If we file complaints at these levels it will prompt a red flag at that school and change will begin to take place. The Department of Justice and your local Human Relations Commission could be helpful depending on the scenario.
Should we have to go through all these drastic measures to get fair treatment for our children? No, of course not, but in order to get a leopard to act like its spots are a problem publicity is needed, and not just by one parent, but by many who will share their stories.
Family members are often made to feel that their concerns are all in their head because believe me schools have mastered the language to get around problematic situations. So get a child advocate to go into meetings with you because they’ll understand the lingo, particularly all the acronyms that’ll be flying back and forth in an effort to make you feel crazy.
Know your rights, because you have plenty of them; no matter what the popular narrative is. The fate of your children lies squarely in your hands, since they come home distressed, tired and traumatized by folks who don’t give a hill of beans whether they’ve learned or not. Take back your child’s rights and do it often and with consistency to send the message that you will not tolerate the racially-insensitive behavior.
These bad apples must go if we want to save public education. In my opinion these educators are the reason why Charter schools exist and thrive today!
Get it together people… we see you and we are not taking it lying down anymore!
Thanks for reading!
A proud mother of black boys, Andrea Lawful-Trainer is the Principal/CEO of C.A.P.E.S, Chairperson of SE PA CARES, an Affiliate of the National CARES Mentoring Movement, and Chair of the Montgomery County Advisory Council to the PA Human Relations Commission.
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Photo: Liz/Flickr