The Hamilton County School Board’s recent announcement is a troubling sign that our leadership is stuck with a mindset that perpetuates the brokenness in our education system. As a living product of Hamilton County schools who serves students who now occupy the very classrooms in which I learned, I know first hand the benefits of equal access and the tragedy of the lack thereof.
To categorically dismiss racial and economic integration as necessary actions for our school systems and to use an unsupported and outdated claim of public opinion as an excuse is to send a clear message that our children do not have advocates in every School Board seat.
To “simply [not] believe” in the reality our school system faces does not change that reality. Avoiding the facts and research of reports, using divisive language, and playing politics as usual does nothing for the very real and necessary dialogue and work that we need to do to make certain that our children are receiving a 21st century education, and not one of 1953. We know that the solutions for our education system are going to be complicated, multifaceted, and exhaustive, but if our leaders cannot appreciate that, we need to reevaluate whether we trust them to create solutions.
Josiah Golson