Parents, Students and Manufactured Apathy

As a candidate for political office one of my greatest challenges was the level of political apathy shown by many voters, particularly those in urban areas.  The commonly held idea that “those” folks gonna do what they gonna do, so it doesn’t matter if I vote or not stuck in my craw like no other sentiment shared along my political walk.  However, in the space of public education that mantra seems to hold true like no other.

Case in point and I am sure this is played out across the country in many other urban communities and school systems my alma mater is now in the mist of receiving its 3^rd principal in 3 years.  That means since the 9^th grade the upcoming class of 11^th graders have had a new instructional leader ever year since they started high school. All often times under guise of “school improvement.”  Couple this with the carousel of teachers that come and go in urban schools and you have a revolving door that’s reflective of the many teenage girls hairstyles. 

Without a doubt I am for whatever it takes to help students achieve and reach their full potential.  I do however; question the logic when schools reflect the unstable social environment many of these students come from.  It is my personal belief that part of what makes ALL environments whether its schools or work successful is consistent leadership at the top.  That consistent leadership at the top offers students in particular those from volatile environments an opportunity to know that at least for a while you know where you can go and someone knows your story.  It is further my belief that knowing a student, his family or his/her environmental story allows for accountability to develop based upon the fact “I SEE YOU.”  Inconsistent leadership oftentimes based upon over reliance of test data that has a huge level of skepticism in urban communities sends a message to those same communities and those same students that “WE” gone do what “WE” gone do and “YOU” can’t do anything about it.

Finally, what this inconsistency at the top leads to is a level of apathy that impacts parental and political involvement based upon lack of influence in any decision making process.  Not only does apathy impact parents, but I would offer it impacts student achievement as well.  Students by in large want to do well for people they know care about them and their story and that takes time.   Schools and student development are no different than any other human relationship (think 90 Day Rule).  However, when it comes to urban schools that relational development and its impact on student achievement seems to have more contingencies than true “economic recovery.” Thus leaving schools like every other institution within urban communities filled with nameless faces and irrelevant stories that do not impact the bottom line. 

That’s My Truth and I AM Sticking to It…

As I hit the customer service bell and scream NEXT...

Dr. Irvin PeDro Cohen