Last week, in a column questioning IPS’ decision to lay off a disproportionate number of Black staff, Amos Brown was spot on in his assessment of education reform. But he was also way off the mark in his assumptions about the policies and values education reformers stand for.
As one of the groups called to the mat by Amos, I can say we at Stand for Children appreciated his appeal for the education reform movement to better connect with the African-American community. This challenge is one Amos and I have talked about personally.
One of the lessons I learned from Amos was the fact that much more dialogue is needed among education reformers and African-American leaders across our community. We as reformers have for too long taken a top-down approach with the policies and ideas we support in order to bring about positive change in our public schools. Also, members of the reform movement, myself included, have been openly critical of IPS without taking the time to account for the larger history of the district. This heritage creates a greater context for change that is more complex than simply needing to address low test scores and paltry graduation rates.
On the flip side, it’s clear from Amos’ mistaken presumption last week that he and other leaders need to better understand the values and principles we stand for as reformers. By associating the education reform movement with Interim IPS Superintendent Peggy Hinkley’s layoffs, Amos mistakenly assumed that cutting the IPS budget is central plank in the policy positions of reformers. That is simply not factual.
Yes, Stand for Children believes that the IPS central office budget is top-heavy and more money needs to be shifted into the classroom. But shifting funding for the betterment of IPS kids is not what happened last week. Hinkley’s cuts were a reduction of the overall budget, and they were brought on by laws coming from the Indiana Statehouse.
While these IPS cuts – which disproportionally impact Black males – aren’t being championed by reformers, it doesn’t mean we should wash our hands of them.
We at Stand for Children have an obligation to never forget the history of IPS, even as we focus every day on improving its future to better serve every single child in the district. This means creating a more meaningful and sustained dialogue with African-American leaders across our city. This means making sure our organization reflects the diversity of our schools and neighborhoods. This means ensuring that the reforms we support are accomplished with the Black community, and not perceived as a movement done to the Black community. And this means challenging our friends and colleagues within the education reform community to join us.
Thank you to Amos – for being both wrong and right. Our hope is that the dialogue your column sparked will carry over into much more in-depth and meaningful conversation in the months ahead.
Justin Ohlemiller is executive director of Stand for Children Indiana.
