I don’t care what a lot of people think (especially those who perceive themselves to be in power).
However, I do care deeply about my community.
For this reason, I have decided to announce early my decision to not seek re-election to the IPS school board. I want to give my community as much lead time as possible to prepare viable, strong candidate(s) ready to compete for the district 2 seat this November.
Some of you might be wondering why I have chosen this path.
In an attempt to further understand some of the crazy political maneuvering I’ve seen thus far in education, last year I began the journey to obtain a Ph.D. in Urban Education Studies. This degree will further enable my advocacy work toward education for liberation.
I’ve always been an ambitious person, but folks, I am human. It’s been a delicate balancing act to juggle the roles of mother, wife, doctoral student, employee, and commissioner. I cannot reasonably expect myself to be able to devote adequate time and energy to all of these demanding and highly important roles for the duration of another 4 year term. Not to mention the short-term trajectory of my doctoral work will include writing a dissertation and the eventual possibility of relocation as I settle into the profession. Therefore, it’s time for someone else from district 2 to prepare to represent us.
I fully intend to complete the final year of my elected term by continuing to advocate for my community.
I have a few things on my mind as I move into the last year of my elected term.
- Increase the presence of student voice in policy making.
Other school boards hold regular meetings with the student government bodies from their high schools, or they implement a process for forming *some* type of student advisory council, and a regular meeting schedule. Student voice is incredibly important. It teaches students to think critically about their education, and forces them to employ different skill sets to achieve their desired outcome. It can lay the foundation for future civic engagement. Aren’t students the reason why we’re here? Don’t we need to figure out what they want? Would it be so much to give them some of what they want? A little happiness at school can go a long way toward keeping our students invested and engaged in their education.
- Parents, families and the community deserve autonomy also.
It makes me cringe every time a school community is informed of something that has been imposed on them: a school closing or relocation, a new model, so on and so forth. In my opinion this should never, ever be the case. Why? Because parents, families and the school community should be given the opportunity to engage in driving those decisions before they are made. I’m not talking about forced last-minute choices, either. I’m talking about real community education and informed dialogue. If the school community is involved to this degree, proactively, then there are no surprises. In 2013 a policy was enacted that allowed for a diverse group of school stakeholders (parents, teachers, community members) to serve as a principal selection committee. Are stakeholder groups still invited to the table to weigh in on these decisions?
- Innovation partnerships merit more careful consideration.
Did I ever share with you that my oldest graduated from a charter school and my middle child currently attends one? They are both locally owned charters. I don’t have anything against local charter schools, per se. [CAVEATS: In a perfect world traditional public schools would be well funded and freed from the destructive patterns caused by standardized testing. If that were the case, there would be no reason or opportunity for charter school competition. However, charter schools do exist – I therefore prefer homegrown charter schools that don’t seem to have profit motive at the forefront.] There are also some charter school “chains” that have promising ideals, located in cities outside Indy. Our communities need to be educated on differing types of charters and be involved in the decision making for potential partnerships. Since it is school performance that everyone is judging, then it would make complete sense for us to judge a potential charter school partner by its past performance. Also, demand to see the number$. A precedent has been established that appears to favor the charter school partner – see the details HERE. Can this type of investment in outside partnerships be sustained year after year? For how many years? How will these expenditures affect the school budgets of children in traditional schools as innovation schools expand? How will potential outsourcing of many Indianapolis residents’ jobs (transportation, custodial, food service) affect our communities?
I don’t think that I am the only person who thinks that (at least some of) these are priorities or concerns. As evidence of this, the Core Commitments reflect some of this language. Anyhow, whether I think they are important or not is pretty irrelevant. I am just one lone dissenter on a board with an established supermajority. If anything at all takes place, you won’t see me taking credit for any of it. I’m not in a position to DO anything at all…which brings me to my last question. Being that I am only one vote, and have absolutely no chances of affecting the future course of anything, why does my dissenting voice bother anyone? In the interest of democracy, why is there such a fuss when I simply want to speak to my convictions? Why is diversity of thought viewed as a hindrance rather than a strength? Why is it so desirable to have 100% total agreement on a publicly elected board?
My thoughts represented on this site are my own free speech. This blog is a personal publication. I don’t represent anyone or anything other than myself.
You can email me by clicking this link: gayle_cosby@yahoo.com