Kimberly Dukes is the executive director and co-founder of Atlanta Thrive, a parent advocacy organization founded to empower parents to disrupt inequities in education. In this guest column, Dukes urges holding school district leadership accountable for the academic outcomes of the students they serve.
By Kimberly Dukes
While summer break is here, I am saddened to think how many parents are breezing into the season, blissfully unaware that the school their child attended for the past nine months has failed them again. And by fail, I don’t mean the student’s grades, but rather the grade of the school and their ability to set all children up for success.
I was that parent at one point, unknowing and trusting of my local public school system. As a mom of 10, day after day, I would drop my children off at school in Atlanta, blindly believing they were receiving a high-quality education. Did I think their schools were top-tier? Not necessarily, but as a taxpayer, I assumed my money was going toward schools equipped to prepare our children for college and beyond.
I was wrong.
I soon realized that my satisfaction with my child’s school was based on a portion of the information. I was only seeing what the school district wanted me to see. After doing my own research, I realized the district has failed to build relationships with the families that support the children.
Credit: Contributed
Credit: Contributed
“I can’t be the only one who didn’t know our children’s school was failing year after year,” I thought. I was right. This is what inspired me to co-found Atlanta Thrive, a parent organization for parents by parents.
We are transforming parents’ understanding of their child’s school, covering everything from ratings to curriculum and beyond. Our organization goes beyond the traditional role of a PTA, which is generally focused on fundraising for schools. Instead, we are developing influential leaders and experts who can address the systemic inequities in education. Our aim is to introduce sustainable educational opportunities to students and families in Atlanta.
We are unifying parents to promote change in our schools. We knock on doors in neighborhoods talking to families, asking them what they know about our schools and what they want for their child’s education. Usually, my concerns are validated when parents tell me and my team that they, too, were ill-informed.
Based on insightful conversations with more than 10,000 families, our extensive collection of parent-informed data reveals a surprising truth: most parents are unaware that their children’s schools are performing poorly. We firmly believe that every school has a responsibility to inform parents about crucial information such as the children’s individual data, school district and state scores and future plans to maintain or enhance academic performance in the upcoming school year. This information can have an impact at the local, state and national level. After all, the ability to choose the right school for their child is a fundamental right for parents, and they should be equipped with all the necessary facts to make an informed decision about their child’s education.
During our discussions with parents, we posed a straightforward yet thought-provoking question: What are the main challenges affecting your child’s education? After carefully analyzing their responses, we discovered families were primarily concerned about safety, children’s mental health and social-emotional learning and academic grade-level preparedness. They also saw need for parent training.
This valuable data enabled us to develop a set of demands that we presented to the superintendent of Atlanta Public Schools. The district implemented a comprehensive social, emotional and behavioral screener for all students from pre-K to 12th grade.
Although taking this first step is significant, disparities still persist in educational opportunities, policies and resources for students, parents, educators and schools, both within APS and across the nation. Board members and policymakers say they want what is best for our children and have strong feelings about doing what is right. But feelings don’t change facts. There must be action that includes input from families.
In 2020, the Atlanta school board introduced a new plan for focused governance, which included a commitment to implementing a stakeholder engagement strategy as the second guardrail. This strategy was aimed at ensuring that the superintendent would not make any significant decisions or changes without seeking input from stakeholders. However, we have not witnessed the implementation of this strategy thus far.
Education leaders spend countless hours and resources building what they think is best for our children without asking for input from those raising them. We partner with parents and live by the proverb, “It takes a village to raise a child.” As part of the village, we demand more opportunities and resources for our children. They deserve it.
Atlanta Thrive will continue to fight until we eliminate racial disparities and equity is built in our local school system. We will continue to equip parents with the tools they need to advocate for their children and make a difference in their community. We believe parents hold valuable insights and can come up with the best solutions because they understand the challenges firsthand. Let’s amplify their voices, because they deserve a seat at the table.
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