Category: Access to High Quality Schools

I would like to thank Secretary Jenner and the State Board of Education for the opportunity to speak today. My name is LaToya Tahirou. I have 3 beautiful children, two are school-aged and one has graduated.

For years now, I’ve advocated that kids in every neighborhood have access to a great school. I’ve advocated for failing schools to model after successful ones that close the opportunity or achievement gap because I know all too well the gaps that exist in many of our schools.

I am here today because I want to see that change and because I believe it is important to keep our state’s A-F letter grades and relaunch an accountability system that puts the proper focus on closing unjust opportunity gaps. A-F grades for schools and districts are a system people know, and these grades, when they meant something, helped parents like me choose our schools, as well as advocate for positive changes in our struggling schools. It provides a sense of urgency around the schools that need more supports and resources and our children receiving a great education is urgent.

The quality education my children do or do not receive is a catalyst for them to have a better life.

Consider single-parent households, consider the kids who come from great disparities, and consider families who do not speak English before you consider moving forward with an accountability system. People who live in struggling communities are already bogged down with life’s struggles. These families need a simplified system – that’s why A – F grades in school accountability are important.

I remember sitting in a board room, not unlike this one, when my oldest daughter was still in elementary school. I sat there crying as they told me that the school she was attending, a school I was at one time excited for her to attend, had been failing for years.

As they read their statistics, I felt hopeless – she had already been in several schools—all in an effort to find the right fit for her. But I knew that my voice mattered in making positive change. I also knew that the school was in transition. A model was put in place to help turn the school around.

I learned about our A-F grading system around this time and it was a driver for the change I would continue to advocate for.

Since that meeting, I’ve spoken at too many press conferences and school board meetings to count. I’ve advocated for high-quality schools in every corner of my community in every way I know how. I was able to place my two youngest children in a school that is the right fit for them – a school doing a much better job of closing opportunity gaps compared to the other schools around us.

As you work to revamp the current system that has been stuck in giving out null-grades, I hope there are no plans to abolish the A-F system. Instead, I would like to see it improved. I would like to see more transparency around the data that determines the letter grade. I would like to see opportunity gap data count toward a school’s grade.

Parents need to know how schools are doing.

Thank you.