“Education is simply the soul of a society as it passes from one generation to the next.”
– G.K. Chesterton
We MUST Understand the value the community has when speaking about public education. Unfortunately, these days there is no community. Back in the day, although we were segregated, we were privileged to witness and experience a total sense of community. There was very little room for us to go astray, because everything was kept right in the community. But nowadays, the public-school system has undergone many dramatic changes – some for the better and some not as much.
For an example, when I was growing up, George Washington Carver was one of two high schools’ students from the Acreage Home community attended – the other, M.C. Williams. All of the children from Carver lived in the community and went to the same high school, same with M.C. Williams. Some students may have gone to different elementary schools, but we all ended up at either Carver or M.C. Williams. We all knew one other; our parents knew each other; and the teachers and administrators knew the community, and most likely lived in it. So, it was a total sense of community back then.
Now, in 2019 we have two of the largest school districts in the country (Houston Independent School District & Aldine Independent School District) and there are high schools all over the city. In most cases, students are able to travel to the school of their choice and return to their respective neighborhood’s. This formula has the tendency to create a War Zone between Our Children.
Because you have all these children leaving the community, going to various schools and coming back fighting each other in the community. They do not know to hold allegiance to their peers who live in the community with them, because they don’t know them. So, it’s almost like it’s a “process of elimination”; because the end result often leads to legal consequences. I believe one of the best options to combat this issue is to go back to community-based schools. Because with the current system in place, we are doing ourselves and Our Future an injustice by creating War Zones for Our Children.
