RIVERDALE — Ophelia Nnorom’s primary concern is her children’s well-being. Every decision she makes is influenced by what gives them the best chance at success.
So when it comes to the presidential election this November, Nnorom, 48, is focused on choosing a candidate she feels most strongly supports giving children and parents the choice of school to attend instead of zoning them to the nearest public school.
School choice, which ranges from allowing parents their choice of public school to giving parents publicly funded vouchers to pay for private school, doesn’t neatly align with either the national Democratic or Republican party, in part because education is mostly a local issue and local access to school options can vary widely across geographic areas. Most voters in Georgia oppose using taxpayer funds to pay for private schooling. An Atlanta Journal-Constitution poll in January found about 44% of respondents were strongly opposed and about 16% were somewhat opposed to the idea.
Nnorom, however, is thinking about her son, Nnamdi, who was diagnosed with autism when he was 4 years old, and she wants to see education discussed more deeply by candidates Donald Trump and Joe Biden.
Up until the presidential debate held in Atlanta in June, Nnorom was supporting Trump in the election, in part because of his stance on education.
“He has said that a child shouldn’t be denied a proper quality education because of their ZIP code,” she said. “He is big for school choice.” In 2021, Trump declared “school choice is the civil rights statement of the year.”
After his debate performance, she’s less certain. “I’m open to seeing all the options to see what’s going on,” said Nnorom, who lives in Clayton County.
The debate gave her a fresh look at Biden and Trump.
“I saw both of them in a new light, actually. You can say my opinions have changed,” she said, adding that she sees both more positively. “Even though I had said earlier who I was looking for, a lot can happen between now and November.”
Nnamdi was zoned for Church Street Elementary School in Clayton County but was reassigned to Callaway Elementary School, where Nnorom said he was able to receive more support as a child on the autism spectrum.
Her son is now 11, and Nnorom said she doesn’t believe Clayton offers a good middle school option for children with special needs, so she will be sending him to a private school in McDonough.
She supported Senate Bill 233, which uses taxpayer money to subsidize the cost of private education. Nnorom attended the ceremony when Gov. Brian Kemp signed the bill into law in April.
“Parents need to be given options. There are some who are not for school choice, and that’s OK. But what about those who want other options?” she said. “Whether it’s private school, homeschooling, parents should be able to have that choice to make a decision that’s best for their child.”
Although she’s open-minded, Nnorom said she supports a second term for Trump because “when we were under him, his policies actually worked for us.”
“The last three years have been really, really difficult, financially,” she said. “We’re doing OK, but when you go to the grocery store, everything is higher.”
Her views put her in the minority in Clayton County, which voted for Biden by nearly 85% in 2020. She said she’s thought about leaving Clayton, “but because of school choice, I’m sticking around a bit.”
Fellow Clayton County resident Tiana Stephenson also has the future of her three children in mind. She said she wants to hear more about how Biden and Trump would approach funding education.
“What are the plans on serving our students? Serving our schools? Serving our community?” said Stephenson, who voted for Biden in 2020.
Stephenson, 36, is pushing to develop a charter school in Clayton, called Wright Community School. The Clayton County Board of Education denied the school’s petition in May, but she plans to reapply. If approved, the school would open in August 2025, and every student in Clayton would be eligible to attend.
“When we think about education, you can’t be in a one-size-fits-all approach. You have to figure out what works for you,” she said. “And then you can continue to grow and excel.”
As far as Biden and Trump go, Stephenson said she wants to know more about their positions on education “before making any decision.”
“It’s a personal choice, but it is also directly aligned to what benefits the people that you serve. When we make the decision in November about who (to vote for), it’s also about what decisions are they making to best serve our students, our counties, our states,” she said. “That’s the most important thing.”
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