How to fix Atlanta’s public schools: Start with parents

Atlanta schools have some problems: about 20 schools among the consistently lowest-performing in the state; children who start kindergarten already behind; teenagers who start high school way behind; educators who still sometimes act unethically.

The AJC's call for solutions was prompted by the district's own national call for help. In September, the district requested ideas from foundations, companies, current Atlanta educators and others about more or better early childhood education, educating students who aren't succeeding in traditional schools, summer programs, ways to mitigate the affects of poverty, and other challenges.

Dozens responded to that call, deputy superintendent David Jernigan said. In the coming months, staff will sort the responses, pick the groups they want to hear more from and ask for community input on some of the finalists.

Of the more than 80 responses to the AJC’s request for suggestions, about a third focused on requiring, strongly encouraging or helping parents to do more. About as many respondents focused on parents as on teachers or students.

Among the ideas: require parents to volunteer in schools or join the PTA; give parents gift cards when their children get good test scores; teach parents to help their children and communicate with teachers; and provide job training.

Students can play a role in improving schools, Kameron Clark, an eighth-grader at King Middle School, said in an interview earlier this fall. But asked how he would improve his school, he said. “First, it starts with our parents.” Schools could do a better job of encouraging parents to spend time in schools and keep them informed through social media and text alerts, he said.

Knowing your parents might show up at school or are keeping close tabs on you means “you can’t come not prepared, you can’t come with a bad attitude,” he said.

The focus on parents was similar to what one local advocacy group, ONE Atlanta, found after encouraging hundreds of people to share stories about schools to identify ways to improve education in metro Atlanta.

One grandmother, for example, talked about being too embarrassed to go to a conference at her grandchild’s school because she couldn’t read well enough to understand the letter explaining the reasons for the conference, said ONE Atlanta organizer Ambe Olinga.

“She recognized the value and importance of education but felt like she was powerless to … help her grandchild,” he said.

ONE Atlanta came up with three main recommendations: Assign a top official to be responsible for parent and family engagement; train school staff on how to encourage parents to be involved in schools; and partner with groups who could help parents participate in meetings and school events by, for example, providing free or reduced-cost transportation.

Atlanta school officials say they know they need to do a better job of connecting parents and alumni to schools.

In a series of meetings and surveys with that goal, parents and others said they were frustrated by things like not feeling welcome at schools, inaccurate or not-timely communication, and a lack of clear expectations about how they're supposed to get involved.

The draft plan that grew out of those discussions includes some of the changes ONE Atlanta suggested. It also includes things like developing an app to connect families with schools and forging closer ties between schools and alumni. The plan is expected to be finalized next month.

But improving teaching is still important, many respondents to the AJC said.

Bianca Shelby, a mother of two and self-described “mama lion” in her southwest Atlanta neighborhood, suggested a curriculum that pairs technology with health, integrating nutrition and wellness into lessons on math, science and engineering.

Schools can prepare students for well-paying jobs, “but if they’re unhealthy … that’s not going to help our society,” she said.

Elementary school teacher Corey Griffith came to work in Atlanta this year in part because of the chance to make a difference.

He said school staff in Atlanta and other areas sometimes dismiss the culture and strengths of low-income black children. Teachers should get more training in how to work with students from different cultures, he said. Textbooks and other materials that the kids he teaches on Atlanta’s west side can actually relate to would help, too.

“Until we start accepting that culture and not associating it with failure or having an inferior view of it we won’t have as much success as we can,” he said. “We just have to be more open. And we have to stop killing kids’ dreams.”