Week Five

           Much has happened in the first five weeks of my MTC internship. However, when I reflect upon my time here and all that I have seen, one theme appears throughout: the failures of our education system (and their origins) must be confronted honestly and by those most qualified. It does not take much research to realize that many decisions which define our school systems are made by the wrong people. Additionally, those most capable of making positive contributions far too often flee the challenge. Our failing education system was born of personal interests and will surely die by them too. You can’t clean up a mess without getting dirty. This is not to say that all involved with education are unqualified and do not have our best interests at heart or that we should forcefully siphon talented individuals from other critical professions, but those calling for changes must be willing to be involved. That is the true value of programs like the Mississippi Teacher Corps and organizations like the Southern Education Foundation. Rather than shirk their duties to others and opt for corporate benefits, they place themselves in the middle of things.

            It was with this in mind that I read an article in yesterday’s Washington Post. The article, written by Bill Turque, was about Bill Kerlina, a former Washington D.C. principal who recently quit his job (link: http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/young-dc-principal-quits-and-tells-why/2011/06/19/AGfcP6kH_story.html). Kerlina had been the principal of Phoebe Hearst Elementary, located in Northwest Washington, since 2009. The school was not struggling nor in a poor neighborhood. Yet, without having previously aired his complaints, Kerlina quit his job and left the field of education in an unusually public manner. When asked why he was leaving his position, Kerlina cited the overall ineptitude rampant throughout the school system, stress, and ineffective methods of assessing school success.

            It is not unreasonable for someone to decide that teaching, or running a school, is not for them. In fact, one might even commend those who recognize they are unhappy, ineffective, or both, and move onto other things. But, as the article indicates, Kerlina was not an unsuccessful educator and simply grew fed up and disinterested. Oh, and what new field did he pursue: the gourmet cupcake business. Kerlina now runs his own cupcake business called Cooks ‘n Cakes. Really Bill, cupcakes? The last thing the D.C. area needs is more cupcakes. His willingness to speak up and call attention to the systematic inadequacies of the D.C. public schools is admirable but his desire to slink off into the world of self-centered confectionary profit is simply embarrassing. So too is the Post’s willingness to paint him as the martyr unwillingly forced from his field of dreams.

            I have remarked before on this blog about the interwoven existence of race, education, poverty, and other defining aspects of our daily lives. The more time I spend here in Oxford, and specifically working for MTC, the more I begin to recognize this. Simultaneously, I am becoming more aware that as more of us leave the heavy lifting for others, we are only hurting ourselves. This post is not even about Bill Kerlina, it is about our willingness to give up and take care of ourselves. This logic is severely flawed, as our education system is increasingly defining our collective future and intimately impacting our personal lives. It is for that reason that the highlights of this internship have been the people. For they have traveled to the area of greatest need, unafraid to fail and resilient against structural limitations, but determined to help.

Week Four

This past weekend the interns ventured to Memphis, Tennessee and the National Civil Rights Museum. Built into the Lorraine Motel, the museum is a powerful tribute to the past, and continuing, civil rights movement, dominated by the life and death of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The museum contained three parts: a tribute to the entire civil rights movement in American history, a tribute to Dr. King, and a confrontation with and discussion of his death. This was all preceded by a short film featuring Rev. Samuel "Billy" Kyles, the man standing next to Dr. King just before the assassination.

           In the film, Kyles grapples with his role as the "witness," coming to the conclusion that his presence was necessary (by God's will) to preserve Dr. King's story and ensure the continuing fight for his dream. The film is well-done, addressing both the significance and causes of Dr. King's death while also considering the legacy. 

Room 306 





          

          Of the museum's many features, the one I found most interesting, and exciting, was the glimpse into Dr. King's personal life. Basic historical representations and national celebrations reconstruct him into an infallible man immune to the struggles of everyday life. But that is misleading. If we are to bestow perfection on anyone, Dr. King is as deserving as any, but I would argue that that does his accomplishments an injustice. For, Dr. King was vulnerable to the same emotions and guilty of personal vices just as we all are, yet was still able to overcome the constant death threats, periodic depression and crushing pressure. This constant struggle, which wore on him constantly, is reflected in many of his speeches, none more so than the famous mountaintop speech the night before he died. This devotion and unfailing determination, as much as anything, is indicative of how far we have come, and have yet to go. In his book April 4, 1968: Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Death and How it Changed America, Georgetown Sociology Professor Michael Eric Dyson confronts this issue, saying: “Whites want him clawless; blacks want him flawless” (pg. 56). In both cases, we forget the struggle that allowed his successes. We forget that before dying an icon, he was just a man swimming against the current. This mistake is serious, for our amnesia limits our ability to muster similar efforts today, as we assume that it takes a saint to initiate change.

Beale Street

         

         While in Memphis, we also stopped by the Blues City Cafe, Gus' Fried Chicken, and spent a couple hours on Beale Street enjoying the live music and upbeat atmosphere. However, despite the prodigious dining options and awesome music, our trip was dominated by the National Civil Rights Museum. For, even though they kicked us out at closing, we remained there the rest of the day.



Dr. Boyd

       

This past week the interns met with Dr. Richard Boyd, Mississippi's first appointed state superintendent of education. In speaking with Dr. Boyd, the massive overhaul needed to improve public education, not just in Mississippi, was quite apparent. For, as Dr. Boyd pointed out, school reforms have all been focused on the inside of the schoolhouse, a small portion of the student’s life. Reform, whatever form it may be in, needs to address the forces which enter the classroom at the heels of students, none more powerful than poverty.

          In a 2009 NAEP study, Mississippi ranked dead last and third from last in family income and parent education. Mississippi also ranked third from last and dead last in 4th grade reading proficiency and 8th grade math proficiency. That is no coincidence. Students coming from poverty, especially when lacking sufficient pre-kindergarten education (which is almost always), are absent more, learn less, and are far more likely to drop out, go to jail, and have unhealthy, unhappy lives. This is not disputed. But, as Steven Reinberg pointed out in his recent HealthDay article posted June 9th, 2011, "there is a gap between what we know and what we fund." Bill Gates et al. can pour as much money into new educational methods as they want, but until the larger issues are addressed, the problems will persist. For, as Dr. Boyd explained, it doesn't simply take a village, it is about the village itself that we must be concerned.
           
            The increasing chasm between those who receive a quality education and those who do not is quickly redefining our country’s global standing. Dr. Boyd shared with us a recent study of the twenty four member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. The countries were ranked on the material well-being, educational well-being, and health well-being of their children. Out of twenty-four countries, the United States finished second to last. The only country worse than us was Slovakia. Our students are poor, poorly educated, and extremely unhealthy. The United States has the largest poverty class of any industrialized nation and it is quickly growing. If measures are not taken to address this issue, which is not limited to matters of education, the soon-to-be majority minority population will be relegated to an uneducated lower class with few prospects for escape. This path is not nationally beneficial, economically, politically, socially, or morally and those who claim to be real patriots ought to be concerned. This divergence of opportunity will increasingly define what it means to be an American: rich or (for the vast majority) poor. When the original GI Bill was signed, it was hailed as a landmark achievement. Education was truly believed to be the great equalizer. Not it has become the great separator, knocking people down rather than helping them up.

Week Three

          My third week interning with the Mississippi Teachers Corps was equally as eventful as the first two.  I spent three days in Atlanta for the Southern Education Foundation's leadership initiative, saw B.B. King perform live in Indianola, MS, met Hank Aaron and continued my journey towards understanding the interconnectedness of race, education, and poverty in this country and their subsequent ramifications.

          The most valuable aspect of the SEF orientation, in my opinion, was the remarkable diversity of individuals both presenting and interning. Presentations were given by representatives of the ACLU, NAACP, MTC, UNC Civil Rights Legal group, KIPP Strive School, SEF, and many more (I apologize to those of you not into the whole brevity thing). Topics ranged from community organizing and non-profits to Brown v. Board and civil rights law. Paramount was the understanding that directionless passion is ineffective and a comprehensive understanding of the structures involved is necessary. Ironically, the more answers I received the more questions I had. The SEF orientation was a truly special opportunity to emerge myself in these topics and benefit from many intelligent and good-hearted people. Also, Billye Aaron spoke and I met her husband, so I've got that going for me.

          Seeing B.B. King's performance was a great time, although his age was clearly weighing on him. But blues music certainly is the music of hope and no one's story indicates that more than B.B.'s.

          One final note, while driving to Atlanta we stumbled across an entire neighborhood that had been utterly demolished by this spring's tornadoes. Entire houses were gone, leaving nothing but the foundation (if they had one) and a pile of rubble. I was reminded of how easily we dismiss the struggles of others. The nature of a tornado, much like education, is uniquely personal in that it touches down locally and with concentrated force, shattering the lives of a few at a time. Those whose property is left unscathed, along with those who have greater means to protect themselves against the destruction, might easily detach themselves from those suffering. But at the end of the day, wanton disregard for the safety, or education, of others will surely endanger us all, as tornadoes and a crumbling education system strike viciously and destroy lives.

Southern Education Foundation

          This past week the interns journeyed to Atlanta for the Southern Education Foundation’s leadership initiative conference. From Wednesday until Friday, we had the good fortune of hearing many interesting and informative panels discuss various topics related to education and race. We also had free run of the hotel buffet, which is always nice.

          Among the panels, one that I think merits further thought was “School Discipline, Push outs and Drop Outs: Dismantling Policies that Generate the School to Prison Pipeline.” This discussion, led by Damon Hewitt (Director of Education Practice, NAACP Legal Defense Fund), Dennis Parker (Director, Racial Justice Program, ACLU), and Marlyn Tillman (Co-Chair, Gwinnett Parent Coalition to Dismantle the School to Prison Pipeline), was a crucial window into the failures of the education system.

          The presence of police officers and school resource officers in public schools has dramatically increased in recent decades, criminalizing the classroom environments of our children and indicting them for crimes not yet committed. This evolving prison atmosphere, only worsened by political backlash after tragedies at Columbine, Virginia Tech, and elsewhere, has shifted from protecting the students to incarcerating them. Required to walk in single-file lines, constantly monitored, void of the freedom to speak, and utterly demonized, our students are literally trained to be repulsed by education and trust only themselves. After all, at any moment the SRO might arrest them, or worse.

         That is beyond unreasonable. If I had been in such an environment I surely would have been expelled for disobedience. Sure, our students are there to learn, but not at the cost of their basic freedoms to move freely, without fear, and display their full personalities. In the current environment, the ideal student never runs, rarely speaks, has little if any healthy self-esteem, and is woefully unprepared for any career aside from “paying their debt to society.”  

         So what can be done? Clearly, there is a connection between a school’s performance and security presence. In New York City, 73 percent of schools have libraries. But, of the schools with metal detectors, only 53 percent have libraries. Similar correlations are seen with county expenditures. Additionally, this trend is not simply a function of school performance or poverty, race matters. However, as Damon Hewitt pointed out, it is a “blue on black issue.” Simply put, blacks are suffering at the hands of the legal system and police force, whatever color its employers may be.  

          But taking security out of schools is not a solution; schools and administrators need that security buffer. Frankly put, they are complicit and cannot do anything about it. This infiltration of academic life (I refuse to call it an epidemic) speaks to larger, systemic injustices which breed at atmosphere in which such measures are either necessary, or more importantly, perceived to be necessary. Our indictment of children of color is indicative of larger abuses, a failure to support them as we support our own. More on this to come...

Two Weeks In

    I have been in Oxford for two weeks now. In that time I have enjoyed Taylor Grocery's fried catfish, barbecue, and fried brownies, visited the Delta, traveled to Arkansas, met many new people whose names I cannot remember, and only slightly wilted under the oppressive heat. Simply put, I have thoroughly enjoyed my time here so far and anticipate a similar reaction to our upcoming trip to Atlanta and later chance to see B.B. King in concert in Indianola, MS. Oxford has certainly been an agreeable summer home despite the heat and unfortunate obsession with all things Eli Manning.

     One thing I have begun to notice, aside from the abundance of Huddle Houses and lack of Chipotles, is that it truly does take a village. Whether considering education, poverty, race or a combination of the three, a sustained, coordinated, and clearly directed effort is necessary for long term change. One teacher will not save the Mississippi school system. One teacher might not even save an entire class of students. But individually, beginning one student at a time, in coordination with others, a teacher can create momentum. Nowhere is this more evident than in the life of Dr. Sybil Hampton. Much had to occur and many had to contribute to make her bravery possible. Furthermore, her decision to integrate was a step in a long process towards equal education, one which did not stop with Brown v. Board, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, or forced busing. Too often we forget that incremental progress initiated by common people creates the opportunity which extraordinary people like Dr. Hampton and others can seize. Rather than wait for heroes we ought to act in their absence, tempting them from the shadows.

Little Rock

       Last Friday, Ben Guest, Program Manager of the Mississippi Teacher Corps, Briana Hanny, and I piled into the School of Education van and lit out for Little Rock, Arkansas. Over the next two days, we attended the Little Rock Film Festival, visited both the Bill Clinton Presidential Library and Little Rock Central High School, and enjoyed a nice dinner with Dr. Sybil Hampton (the first black student to attend Central High for three full years, beginning in 1959) and Zak Piper (co-producer of the film The Interrupters).

     The film festival was phenomenal. In addition to having the pleasure of seeing Ben's film The South Will Rise Again, a documentary short which looks at issues of race at Ole Miss, make its Little Rock debut, I was able to watch four full length films and numerous shorts. The two most compelling, in my opinion, were Hot Coffee and The Interrupters.

     Hot Coffee, directed by first time filmmaker and former laywer Susan Saladoff, uses three famous legal cases of the last twenty five years to engage the debates regarding tort reform and mandatory arbitration. Saladoff's work was forceful and at times absolutely gut wrenching as she mapped the circuitous route some must take to find, if ever, equal protection uder the law.  

      The second film, The Interrupters, was from Kartemquin Films and captured the daily struggles of violence interrupters in Chicago. Their only goal to prevent wanton violence and killings, the interruptors must engage the most volatile elements of the city while also reconciling their own past contributions to the violence "epidemic." I recommend this film to anyone concerned with the lives of others; its success predicated upon the immeasurable selflessness of the lead characters.

     Meeting Dr. Hampton and visiting Central High was another clear highlight of the weekend. We have all been impacted by the civil rights movement in some way, but far fewer can say they contributed mightily to it's progression. Dr. Hampton is among those few and still today when listening to her speak the strength and moral fortitude which carried her down those lonely halls is undeniable.

     The school itself appears much like it did when the Little Rock Nine first enrolled. Looming overhead and built like a fortress, it has protected both the immoral and moral. Yet, as the adjacent museum indicates, in doing so it has served as a vehicle for exposing that which our intolerance inflicts upon us.

     All in all it was a fantastic weekend and I hope to return to Little Rock again sometime to learn more. Much has happened and much needs to happen in order to establish true citizenship for all, but a comprehensive understanding of both is not mutually exclsuive and in few places is that more evident.