The first installment of an in-depth Tampa Bay Times investigation of resegregated schools in Pinellas County, Fla. is worth reading in full. Near the end, you'll find a story of Loneiyce Washington, who felt she had no choice but to move to a neighboring town to find a safer school for her grandson.
She packed her things into a storage unit, left her house in south St. Petersburg and crammed with Tyree into her 27-year-old daughter’s apartment in Pinellas Park.
The new address meant she could enroll him at Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Elementary School. Almost immediately, she said, Tyree started doing better.
Though her living arrangement is tenuous, Washington said she’s glad to be away from south St. Petersburg schools.
The Times notes the legacy of racial segregation in the community, which undoubtedly plays a role in its present academic turmoil. But it also reveals how problems that trapped children like Tyree stem from policy changes made much more recently. The newspaper reports other families felt they were in a similar bind. Removing the barriers they face is no simple task.
Meanwhile...
A new podcast offers a different take on the narrative presented by the recent This American Life series on school segregation.
Matthew Ladner responds to our recent podcast with Howard Fuller on education savings accounts, equity and universal vouchers. What's next for Nevada's ESA program? Will there be enough room in private schools? Why is that state's new tax credit scholarship program slow to get off the ground?
Can personalized learning environments offer teachers increased agency, too?
There may be better ways of managing charter school growth and making school choice work for all families.
Quote of the Week
“It’s just not fair to the children not to have a chance. They need to have a chance at a decent school. ... My child can’t wait for 10 more years for this school district to get...(it) together. She won’t make it.”
-Julee Higginbotham-Kirkpatrick, who fought to transfer her daughter into a better school in Greater St. Louis.
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