We believe in equitable access to education for every child in Guilford County. The foundation for our future is a strong education. Our country and our county have suffered because of systemic race and class-based inequities in our education systems that have been made worse by elected officials who have taken money out of public schooling year after year, and who have weakened our ability to use our government to care for people. We think education is one of the most important resources our government provides, and we want our schools to have what we need to nurture our kids, and where every child has an equal opportunity to succeed. We owe our children a diverse and modern curriculum in safe and clean facilities where students and our school staff can thrive.
WHAT OUR NEIGHBORS TOLD US
“I believe that education is the root of many of our challenges, including violence and economic inequity. If we invest in contemporary and accurate education for children/youth, city leaders and law enforcement officials, many of our city’s issues will begin to be alleviated. I have observed many decisions being made from an ignorant, short-sighted and disconnected perspective. This trend in Greensboro has proven to be dangerous and extraordinarily unattractive for contemporary thinkers.”
“I remember, my daughter went to Wiley elementary on the South Side, by Smith Homes Apartment. They are a Title I school, and pretty much all of those kids are reading below their grade, and so when we moved back over here, she’s going to Rankin and they’re saying she’s behind for reading, and when we were over there, she was reading what they said was okay for her grade level. So the expectations are not the same for the kids. If you’re on one side of town, they don’t expect you to have the same potential as kids on the other side of town.
As a parent, and as a child that sees that, it’s different. When I went to school on this side of town, they held me to a certain accountability- I took all AP classes over here. When I went to the other side of town, they said if you wanted to take AP you had to take a permission slip or your parents would have to transport you. As a parent, seeing my child go from one school to another- it’s like these kids over there didn’t do any of this stuff. At Wiley, my brother didn’t have a yearbook, because they didn’t have funding. At Rankin, they had a yearbook- my daughter was bragging about it.”
SAFE AND CARING SCHOOLS
- We want schools where our kids’ mental and physical health is cared for by having access to enough social workers, counselors, nurses, and psychologists. Our elected leaders should make sure Guilford County Schools meet the recommended ratios of these support staff while also decreasing the school system’s reliance on School Resource Officers (SRO’s) to lessen racial inequity in suspensions and support our children’s parents and caregivers.
- Guilford County Schools should be ready and prepared for future crises through including educators and staff in decision-making, appropriately funding our schools and setting aside emergency resources, and making sure schools have what scientists recommend to keep students, teachers, and staff safe.
- Our elected leaders must ensure that teachers can teach and children can learn in safe, sanitary, and welcoming spaces with up-to-date HVAC and working windows, facilities free of cancer-causing chemicals and allergens like mold, reduced class sizes, and protect the future through using renewable energy like solar panels on school buildings.
JUST SCHOOLS
- Our elected leaders should implement school curriculums where kids from all backgrounds can see themselves and their histories, and work to make sure that the teachers and staff reflect the kids they teach.
- Our elected leaders should advocate for fewer standardized tests and more developmentally appropriate assessments. We support the North Carolina Association of Educators’ stance on standardized testing because a single test score should never determine the future of any student, educator, or school.
RESOURCED SCHOOLS
- Our elected leaders must fight for and make sure all public schooling from early childhood through higher education has full and fair funding, including equitable access to technology in PK-12 education, afterschool care, and not moving money from public schools to go to charter schools.
- We expect local officials to work on behalf of constituents and generate creative solutions that recognize the worth of all teachers, encouraging quality educators of all ages to work and stay in Guilford County.