In a recent guest column for this blog, Cobb County elementary school counselor Jennifer Susko wrote about her despair over demands of white parents and board members to limit discussions of race and racism in the classroom. That frustration has now led Susko to resign.
In June, the Cobb school board passed a resolution banning of the teaching critical race theory and the 1619 Project. The board’s four Republicans all voted in favor, while the three Democrats abstained. Abstaining member Leroy “Tre” Hutchins noted his colleagues in support of the resolution couldn’t clearly explain CRT and that Cobb risked outlawing its social and emotional learning programs, which some critics in Cobb and Cherokee have confused with CRT.
CRT is a complex legal framework that few, if any, K-12 schools teach. The framework seeks to explain how racism embedded in laws, regulations and rules within our institutions -- healthcare, courts, criminal justice system, education system, housing market -- affect the lives, livelihoods and outcomes of people of color. While schools are not attempting to teach American jurisprudence and CRT, many are recognizing that racism, past and present, impacts students and must be addressed both in curriculum and counseling.
The sudden attacks on CRT for political coinage have led reactionary school districts nationwide to rush into approving bans, some of which are so broadly written that counselors and teachers wonder if they can even responds to student concerns about the pain of racism in their lives.
As more districts and the State Board of Education endorse resolutions banning CRT, educators are questioning how that will look in the classroom. “It pains deeply to hear that even noble ideals like diversity, equity and inclusion are being questioned,” said Casey Bethel, Georgia’s 2017 Teacher of the Year, in a recent guest column here.
These handcuffing resolutions don’t spell out clearly what is allowed in classrooms. Can schools teach about racial gerrymandering? Can they talk about Jim Crow laws? Can teachers answer student questions about George Floyd or, closer to home, Ahmaud Arbery? Can counselors talk to middle school students about the racism they’ve faced?
Susko has been one of the few public school educators in metro Atlanta willing to bring up racism to school leaders, entreating them to acknowledge and combat it. In a 2019 column for this blog, she wrote, “The reflexive denial by the school board and district leadership of the racism in their midst and their consistent refusal to heed expert recommendations zap my energy and break my heart.”
In her May column on the Cobb resolution, Susko wrote:
I cannot solely address and affirm white students as the parents who spoke at last week's board meeting are asking us to do. What should I say, as a school counselor, when students come to me to talk about their identity, but their particular background is on a blacklist? “Sorry, friend, somebody's else's parents don't want me to make you feel like you belong here in our school"? Or, “Somebody else's board member doesn't want me to design interventions aimed at eliminating the pain you're experiencing as others harass and insult who you are"?
Susko said she believes now she cannot serve students of color under the constraints imposed by the Cobb district. You can read the news story here.
Here are excerpts from her letter of resignation.
Dear Mr. Ragsdale, et. al:
It is with deep sadness that I resign from the Cobb County School District in an act of protest against the recent ban on antiracism and diversity, equity, inclusion and justice, as well as the district’s longstanding mistreatment of Black families who have been ignored while demanding solutions to the ongoing racism in your school system for many years.
As we know, Black children and parents stood often at the microphone during school board meetings sharing their lived experiences of race-based trauma in schools while you fidgeted with your cell phone, Mr. Banks rolled his eyes, and Mr. Scamihorn denied that their experiences even occur. These are but a few among a host of other forms of dismissiveness.
Despite this ever-present anti-Blackness, we did make incremental progress. Caring, informed, diverse groups of educators and community members have achieved measurable, albeit insufficient, systemic change over the last several years. Our consistent advocacy for marginalized students in South Cobb has resulted in some excellent culturally relevant programs and department initiatives. I will not name those departments and programs publicly.
Though I am heartbroken to leave my students who I love dearly and my colleagues, I know I cannot do my job as a school counselor ethically under the current style of leadership which thwarts research and expertise on racism and its effects on mental health. To ensure that I do not cause harm to Black students in my work as a white counselor, it is vital that I study scholarly literature and theory to understand the history of racism and its specific impact on individuals and families over generations.
No white mental health professional should be working with BIPOC students without understanding race-based trauma. Failing to navigate this cross-cultural counseling relationship adeptly can cause minoritized students harm. Since the ban on CRT conflates many approaches and practices related to antiracism, Cobb County School District is asking me to violate my school counseling ethics by prohibiting that I prepare myself to be a culturally sustaining school counselor.
My students come to me with race-based trauma and questions about their identity and experiences. The district is asking me to obfuscate history, ignore my commitment to educational justice and deny these students voice or validation.
I have received only excellent evaluations while at CCSD. I have received national awards and recognition for my work. As a result, you’ve been unable to penalize me professionally to date. Now, with the introduction of the unclear and undefined “ban,” I can be reprimanded for examining and addressing issues that directly harm my students. It has been made very clear that I will be watched closely and disciplined for adhering to my ethical obligations and for implementing an anti-racist framework.
Such intimidation and threats against my vocation and livelihood are toxic. I cannot spend the entire school year justifying my integrity and performance at the expense of serving my students. My approach has never been about making a Black child feel like a victim or telling a white student that they are inherently racist. Yet, the district and school leadership persist in inventing their own inaccurate definitions of CRT and ascribing them to me.
Committed to antiracism and propelled by the work of Black feminists, Civil Rights leaders and organizers of the past and present, I am obligated to take risks and sacrifice things I love sometimes. In this case, it’s my job. But many wonderful people in our community have demonstrated their support of me remaining in this district. They’ve also comforted me through this incredibly painful decision.
