Stop Labeling Schools and Stop Labeling Black Boys Too!

Black boys are punished at young ages in school because of normal age level behaviors. 
I hear statements from Black parents regarding their sons educational experience reflecting how the schools regard them as unruly and unable to sit down and learn or because of their behavior your child is behind.

AllOnGeorgia recently published an Op-Ed written by the elected Georgia State School Superintendent Richard Woods in which he stated,"Imagine if the success of your child – or your grandchild, niece or nephew, or next-door neighbor – was summed up entirely by their performance on a single end-of-year test."  

Superintendent Woods also said to support the idea of better test regulations that we should stop labeling schools. I agree that we should stop labeling schools. However, where we separate is on the support doing this work which first begins with ending the labels we place on children.

The current policies in education around discipline Superintendent Woods and the current Education Department support punitive discipline programs that are bias against Black boys. These programs are reflected in discipline handbooks in private, public, charter schools that describe behaviors as unruly same as juvenile justice departments.

So yeah, it’s pretty hard to imagine this image Superintendent Woods sees when Black boys are constantly labeled in the State of Georgia education system by being placed into a sub group category and labeled as low performing.

The best way to change this is for more Black male engagement in schools. We need more Black male educators and more black males volunteering and supporting our community schools.

Then we must change policies and that begins with how we vote and who we are voting on in elections. Get informed about the issues, legislation and bills being placed. We need people in decision making seats who see our Black boys as children and not criminals.