February 10, 2011. Two years, two months, and thirteen days ago. The night I became an education activist.
As the number two executive at the Little Rock Chamber of Commerce, or any chamber for that matter, one’s role is to be behind the scenes. Don’t speak out, lest your words be interpreted as the position of the organization.
However, following a PTA meeting at Don Roberts Elementary on February 8, 2011, when the immediate need for a West Little Rock Middle School was made contingent upon improving overall performance of the district’s middle schools, I went to my President and CEO, Jay Chesshir, and asked for permission to speak/write publicly about what I perceived to be the unresponsiveness of my local school board. His response: “You’re a dad first, employee second.”
With permission granted, one day later, just after midnight, I made my first blog post, based on exchanges with the two board members who were at that February 8th meeting.
But I was already late to the party.
At the opening of Don Roberts Elementary in the fall of 2010, Kellyann Thornton met Kerry Davis. Deeply involved in support of their new school, after many playground and school hallway discussions, Kellyann and her husband, Richard, invited Kerry and her husband, Devin, to join and them at their home for dinner. There, they committed to advocating for a new secondary school by creating the Middle School Initiative. They began meeting regularly with a small group of other parents, and started the Middle School Initiative Facebook page in January of 2011, which has now grown to 309 likes.
The first public meeting of the Middle School Initiative? February 8, 2011, immediately following the Roberts PTA meeting I referenced earlier. In other words, I was at their first meeting, and didn’t even know it.
Bonded by our then third graders’ lack of an acceptable public option for middle school, as well as our incredulity over the district’s continued ignoring of essentially 3/7 of its population (2/7 after board zones were gerrymandered in 2011), we disparately began our Quixotic tilt at the LRSD windmill.
It was the first year of Don Roberts Elementary, and while we had not been involved in its development (land purchase in 2005, opening in 2010), we were benefiting from others’ long, hard struggle to see the first LRSD school built west of I-430 since 1978. As products and longtime champions of public schools, all we wanted for our children was the opportunity to be excellently educated in an environment that truly reflected our community.
As the City grew west, the issue of proximate elementary, and now middle, and now high schools had seemed to cycle through West Little Rock in waves. When parents began one level, they began strongly advocating that the board get busy on the next. When it didn’t, and those parents had to make hard choices as to where their kids would continue their education, their advocacy generally ended along with their children’s LRSD enrollment.
While my frequent blog posts were likely more cathartic for me than read by others, Kellyann and Kerry’s social media efforts were rallying the parental troops. They were writing board members, showing up at board meetings, and presenting passionate, data-driven reports in three-minute monologues, the only opportunity the public is given to speak at Little Rock School Board meetings.
And yet and still, crickets.
Cut to two years later: My opening my big mouth on public education led to a marriage of my personal and professional passions – an invitation to create and launch what would become Arkansas Learns, this private sector alliance of parents, employers and citizens dedicated to excellent education for all students.
Meanwhile, Kellyann, Kerry and their Middle School Initiative army persisted. Winston Churchill would have been proud, as they “Never, never, never g(a)ve up.”
Many parental leaders have emerged and are emerging through both MSI and Arkansas Learns. At the risk of omitting, I’ll not attempt to list, but one need only look to frequent posts here and there to see who is effectively involved and engaged.
Finally, last night – April 22, 2013 – these parents’ individual and collective efforts were rewarded with the first definitive action toward creation of a middle school in West Little Rock, as the board voted 6-0-1 to purchase property in West Little Rock and in Southwest Little Rock for Middle and High Schools, respectively. Never mind that we long ago abandoned talk of a “Middle School” for “Secondary Schools” (i.e. a high school too), at least it was a late step in the right direction.
Construction and opening are still years away, ensuring that many of our children will never benefit from our actions. But just like we stood on the shoulders of those who pushed for the building of Roberts, other parents will stand on ours to hear their children’s voices echoing through the halls of the new middle school.
The lesson in all of this? Parental advocacy in public education must be in it for the long haul. If we’re only in this for what benefits will come to our children only, we’ll never see the change that all of our children deserve. Meanwhile, we’ll play the hand that’s dealt us and make the best decisions for our respective families knowing that parents and students whom we’ll never know will benefit from our collective actions.
The 6-1 vote which selected Dr. Suggs and the 6-0-1 vote which purchased property for new schools were bold shifts in the direction and leadership of the board. We must, however, remain ever vigilant that it is the beginning of a trend, rather than an aberration of business as usual.
When it comes to looking after the best interests of children, nothing is more powerful than a parent. So, celebrate for a day, then get back to work. Semper Fidelis.