My head is going to explode!
For starters, this particular post is going to bleed a little away from pure Unit 4 stuff. I do not apologize for that, just giving you fair warning. =)
So I attended two “meetings” today, a presentation/private lunch with Professor Mark Abers on the topic of the racial climate survey done in Champaign centering around Unit 4, and the Education Equity Excellence (EEE) Committee meeting. In both cases I craved so much more interaction than I was allowed (thus the exploding-head syndrome). In both cases, the only little bit I contributed to the official meeting was 5 or 10 minutes after the meeting was supposed to end. The good news is that I had some personal conversations with relevant folks, and that is going to shape much of what I share in this post.
Prof. Mark Aber shared this PPT: http://www.psych.illinois.edu/~kbock/MarkAber.ppt
Some of you might be thinking “What does Education Equity Excellence mean, and what does it have to do with Champaign Unit 4 schools?” If you are asking that kind of question, the first few slides will paint a background for you. Dr. Aber is just one resource of many places that have documented the history and the significance of the Consent Decree – there are a couple more on my “blogroll” to the right. There is a ton (literally, I am sure of it!) of information about this topic.
Or maybe you feel fed up with the whole Consent Decree? Maybe you have heard the media and you are sick of the $2million/year expenditure.
Why do I bring it up? Again, I am not going to apologize, this topic fascinates me. You think I am weird, I can see it in your facial expression (WordPress is awesome, isn’t it?).
For me, here is the bottom-line. In fact, you can stop reading this blog entry after this next line:
People (in general, as a whole) don’t have productive conversations about race and other social issues.
I had a great conversation with Aber before his presentation. As it was a private lunch with about 10 others in attendance, I had a choice to sit at a table of 8 unknown folks, or 1 unknown person sitting next to someone who looks like Mark Aber. I really only had one choice. 
So we got to talking about his work with the Climate Survey, how folks have impressions that may (or may not) be based on reality, and he also started sharing about how he is wrapping up a brand new Climate Survey next week. We even meandered over to topics like Community Broadband (and I was able to drop Martin Wolske‘s name, as I had just met with him a few days before) and Sascha Meinrath, whom I found via google while looking for Consent Decree information. Sascha has taught classes with/for Professor Wolske, and has done research with Prof. Aber, but is now focusing more on Big Broadband. I am not exactly sure, but I get the distinct impression that “broadband” is coming up often in these circles because of its alleged benefit to the poorer communities that may not have ready access to the internet, like many richer communities (and individuals) do. I have not read the papers yet, so I could be way off my rocker. But that is my thought. During my talk with Dr. Aber, I also mentioned Dr. Alves’s work; Dr. Alves mentioned that there are factors (“institutional arrangements”) which keep society segregated, and Dr. Aber posited that one of the things Champaign needs to do is “change existing power relationships”. He covered this in his talk with more detail, but his point was that many folks perceive a particular group to hold more power over another, even if that perception is not based on fact. I did not have time (or the inclination at the moment) to ask specifically how power relationships can be improved, but I’ll have to keep that on my Mark Aber list. =)
So this got me to thinking. Here we are, covering a subjective survey (the questions all asked how people thought or what their opinions were). The audience was 100% white, predominantly women. If there are important, significant differences in perceptions between the races (and Dr. Aber’s research is evidence that there is), why are we not talking with members of other races to learn what their opinions are, what is the basis of those opinions and maybe even the context? Not to argue and expose weaknesses, but with the goal of understanding and listening. I see this being mutual, a two-way street.
I left with a small potential gift – Prof. Aber mentioned that he would send me a copy of his Climate Survey when it was complete. That should be interesting! =)
So, later in the afternoon I biked (upwind and uphill) to the Mellon Center. I had requested the dollar-amount we spend on Dr. Michael Alves, and it turned into an FOIA and several pages of budget line-items. *grin* Oh well, I can live with that, at least they answered my question. During the 2004-2005 school year, Unit 4 paid him $43,650. During 2009-2010 school year, we have already paid him $95,600. Interesting numbers. I personally think Dr. Alves is providing a valuable service; he is administrating a couple lotteries which gives us as much assurance as possible that the system is unbiased, professionally done and well documented. However, I do admit that it is hard to look at those numbers knowing that Unit 4 recently cut four staff from the payroll. Possibly with more on the way. Again, please take what I say here on this blog for granted; if I were to be quoted, know that I am not an authoritative source. (This should be obvious, so I am stating the obvious) It is merely that I was curious about these numbers since they did not show up in any of the public budget reports.
But my main purpose on going to the Mellon Center was the for the EEE meeting. Here is the agenda – look boring? Well, yeah, it was. I sat there for 1.5 hours listening to numbers, reports and a small bit of dialog between staff and EEE Committee members. To be honest, I was dismayed that a few members were absent (about 5 according to the name tags that were not claimed). But I totally understand that we all have lives to live and cannot possibly attend every meeting (thank God!!). After tonight, I am surprised about those that do come. This demonstrates the level of commitment that some of your elected officials and committee members have; you elected them, and they are sacrificing their time (unpaid time, that is) to attend these meetings. To be honest, I am so glad that my canidacy was politely rejected. Must have been a miracle. =)
Ok, enough of that. Let us talk about the good stuff. Those who presented information painted a picture that most things are improving; they went into detail and answered questions from the committee members well (way to go, committee members!). There was a bit of discussion on PBF (Positive Behavior Focus), PBIS (Positive Behavior Intervention and Support) and SIPA (Student Intervention Parent Advocates, I think). There is a lot of work being done to address and curb disorderly conduct and truancy, factors which put a child on a downward spiral away from personal success. What struck me is if you have so many kids who qualify for special attention, who is fulfilling those needs? Do we have enough staff to go around? Mark Aber slid into this topic sideways earlier in the day by stating that it is incredibly hard to shape an entire school system to meet all needs using a blanket curriculum and a standard approach to everything. Which totally makes sense to me – you cannot possibly expect that what works for 90% of your audience is going to be perfect for the other 10%. So, my big question of the night is what do those 10% need? Even among them, are there perhaps different types of involvement and interaction needed?
As Dr. MacFarland mentioned tonight, let us also keep in mind that the school district is improving – that roughly 90% of the student population is well served and increasing their scores over the long run.
So, after the meeting the fun really started for me. Margie Skirvin and Imani Bazzell were both part of the audience with me. Margie had to leave a little early, and Imani was up and about taking care of a little one. When Dr. Hunter (the facilitator) asked if anyone in the audience would like to comment, I was the only one left. It was 5:45, 15minutes past the time the meeting was supposed to end. I asked when would the community have more chance to get involved in discussions, to be a part of the communication process. Part of the Consent Decree charged the school district with creating the EEE, which Unit 4 and was following through on. Yet, Dr. Aber emphasized (again, earlier, not like he was there *grin*) that the schools need to spearhead a forum for community members to get their perspectives on the table. EEE was not doing that. Yet. Dr. Hunter mentioned that they were going to try working more time in next meeting (JUNE 3rd, BE THERE!!).
I interacted with Imani and Melodye Rosales a bit afterwards. We all agree that we, our community, need more opportunities to come together and essentially hash things out. Sure, it might start with those of us who want to get our passionate feelings out on the table, but we want to foster an atmosphere and environment where people can share what is on their hearts. If there really are misconceptions and ill-founded perspectives, it would be my hope that by talking it out with others we could clear that up. Or at least start to. Yes, yes, yes, I realize I am presenting a highly idealized and perhaps overly optimistic thought. Yet even still I hope. Why can it not happen? What are you doing about it?
*grin*
Let me give you one small example before I finally close this thing off. During the presentations, Imani was trying to bottle-feed and comfort a little baby girl (4 months? I don’t know). The little precious child was a little cranky and grew more so. Imani had to get up a few times to attempt to soothe her and try to lessen the distraction to the others. At one point, Melodye had this look on her face. Melodye finally got up and went to the back room where Imani was with the child. My personal thought was that Melodye was upset and had a word to share with Imani.
I was so wrong! The little child was Melodye’s granddaughter. Instead of Melodye being upset with Imani, Melodye felt responsible for the disruption but did not know what to do. If I had not stuck around and had that conversation with both ladies, I would left the meeting thinking that Melodye and Imani were not on good terms. And I would have had a very inaccurate belief based on a partial picture. Getting the complete picture from the source helped me understand and know the truth. The truth is powerful, friends. =) And to be honest, seeing that little girl in Imani’s arms made me miss my own daughter at that age; the sounds of sucking milk, the awesome closeness of a baby asleep on my shoulder.
Now my head feels less ready to explode.
Honk if you read this entire post. You crazy bugger.
