Schools Are Failing the Nation’s Brightest Students
What happens to a dream deferred?
- Langston Hughes
Introducing, Deferred Dreams, a series that explores the intersections of education, policy, and race.
Where Dreams Begin
At six years old, I began the second grade. I entered the classroom full of confidence and curiosity. My teacher, Ms. Smith, was vibrant. Morning lessons sparked innovation and wonder. We recited poetry. We danced. We built solar systems. Every day was filled with possibility. Weeks passed, and the class grew close until Ms. Smith announced that she was leaving. As a result, each student was assigned to a new class and teacher.
After our goodbyes, we were sent to random room numbers. I arrived to a new class with excitement but was greeted by disappointment and unease. The warmth that characterized my former class was gone. The room was quiet. Each student kept their heads lowered as they read. In but an instant, I became the “new girl”, a phrase that represented my otherness.
When I wasn’t the new girl, I was the “other black girl”. One of two black students in my class out of a handful of black students at my school made all too clear by the fact that black students represented less than 6 percent of the student body. I was the “other one”. Other replaced my first name when uttered by Mrs. Sopher. I wasn’t acknowledged as a human being. I was inanimate and my teacher made sure to remind me of it every day.
Nightmares and Crushed Expectations
Students enter elementary school with a dream. They are told that their potential is infinite but then the nightmare is exposed. Confidence is broken.
For students of color, that grim reality arrives in the dawn of their education. They are policed, criticized, and belittled. By the time they graduate high school or college, they are disillusioned by the system. Individuality becomes a liability. Diversity becomes a point of contention. Ideals are sacrificed for demands. Hopes are surrendered for obligations.
Dreams are deferred (as are loans).
Students become objectified as numbers and quotas- mere consumers of knowledge who must compete for approval. Failure to embrace differences diminishes opportunity and overlooks the humanity of students regardless if they are in the second grade or second year of college. Educators and administrators who form a rivalry between the student body in an effort to uphold authority and control, misappropriate their power. When otherness is treated as weakness, students are put in direct opposition of teachers, staff, and politicians.
Surrendering the Dream
Each day, I prepared myself for the worst. I felt smaller and smaller. Mrs. Sopher minimized me to the point of invisibility. She was the first of a long line of teachers who undermined my capabilities,
“You can’t.”
“You shouldn’t.”
“You won’t.”
At times a student’s potential is stunted by disbelief. These myths perpetuate exclusion. Students begin to internalize the doubt, just as I did,
I can’t.
I shouldn’t.
I won’t.
My desire to be undetected outgrew my desire to learn.School was no longer about the study, it was about surviving.
Why are students forced to survive?
At times, students must shrink themselves in order to fit in. They must blend in or compromise in order to be accepted. Any deviance from average is deemed as defiance or rebellion, devastating the possibility for excellence. When these disparities are ignored the relationship between the teachers who want to be respected and the students who want to be appreciated, are strained.
Confronting the Harsh Reality
Students of color face inequality and injustice both inside and outside of the classroom. Day by day, they are assumed guilty. They are criminalized. They are labeled as a distraction. They are singled out. Their skin color is viewed as a threat and they receive harsher punishments.
Access to equitable education is reserved for the affluent, Christian, and white. Those who are classified as other, students of color, students with disabilities, or LGBTQIA+ students are failed by an an elitist and corrupt system that does not serve or uplift their communities.
These failings are embedded in our institutions. Teachers suffer too. Though many have good intentions, some are not equipped to teach diverse students due to lack of support, bias, or preparation. Others are jaded by the system. Regardless, students are left to answer for the missteps of those in control.
Unfortunately, the current Republican administration is negligent and untrustworthy. The aversion to otherness and repealing of necessary protections disrupts progress within our schools. Betsy DeVos, the Secretary of Education, is sorely disconnected from the youth and families that rely on effective policy to improve the institutions in place. Yet, at every turn, DeVos gross incompetence results in more damning shifts within education and is met with disapproval from students and leaders alike.
From campus to campus, hall to hall, students strive for success but in their pursuit of academic advancement they face numerous challenges and obstacles. Students continue to be disenfranchised and penalized by bureaucratic interests that do not solve the problem of inequity.
Public educational systems are at risk. Less funding may eliminate essential before and after school programs for students who aren’t just hungry for learning but for sustenance. Graduates who are paying back student loans can expect higher interests rates, stiffening competition, and economical strain. Teachers and staff may also feel the brunt of cuts to teacher training and other departments.
The Path to Restoring Hope
The current infrastructure commodifies student learning and success, pacifying those who fit the mold, while marginalizing people of color, those with disabilities, and the LGBTQIA+ community. How can we change that?
We must hold each other accountable. We each have a role to play. Children are our future. Let’s center them and put them first.
Parents can get involved by maintaining contact with schools, attending meetings, and volunteering. Often times, parents are the first to see where schools are lacking. Work may be demanding but finding time to actively participate in a child’s education is essential. Adult learners are also in a position to advocate for youth as well.
Educators must keep the lines of communication open and diversify their modes of teaching. Most teachers are not like Mrs. Sopher but can become hardened by the system. Finding common ground will keep classes on track. Embracing technology and innovation in learning will also prove to be beneficial in engaging a new generation of students.
Administrators should consider the unique needs of their districts. Tapping into the pulse of the community will help administrators to stay informed and alert. Challenging others to do the same will establish trust. Listening to teachers, students, and parents is crucial to overcoming complacency so that all departments are supported.
Policymakers must be adamant about change and not allow alternative motives to influence the course of education. At each stage, they are responsible for creating equity and opportunity. Commitment to equality and security for all socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds can result in more solutions.
All in all, regardless of who we are, the time is now. Dreams will not wait. Dreams can easily pass us by if we let them. But all of the dreams that made us young, free, and bold are not lost if we rise to the challenge of bringing them back to life.
