Here’s a voting block that I DARE YOU TO COURT…… African-American and Latino-American mothers whose children attend public schools. This group of citizens is continually overlooked when “leaders” are planning for neighborhoods and education. They are not your ever visible soccer moms, they are virtually invisible in certain parts of our community. You have to be in certain neighborhoods to even see them. IF they are working in Peoria, they are more than likely the only one of color doing so in their place of employment (unless you work in District 150 Administration).
These are the parents who are blamed for everything that is wrong in our cities and schools, yet they are never consulted about what their needs are when folks decide to run for office.
Locally, leaders are beginning feel the sting of just what it looks like when the voices in inner city neighborhoods are oppressed for generations. They have learned the hard way, that all citizens must be considered when we are talking about the development and well-being of the City of Peoria.
What can the City do to get inner city parents to realize that they do have a voice in this City? What would help them to see that people need to/want to hear from them? Who will court this voting block? Who will arm folks with the facts and encourage them to get out and vote for the change that directly affects them and their children? Who?
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Who Is for Kids? Who Is Just Kidding?
Years ago a campaign slogan asked, Who's for Kids? and Who's Just Kidding? It's time to turn our rhetoric into votes for those who understand the impact of our schools on our communities. Now is the time to vote for those who are for kids because they will strengthen your schools and your communities at a time when political courage is needed most.
Here's a notion that is difficult to dispute: Communities are known by the schools they keep.
Are your local or county governing boards, your local, state and federal elected officials, your real estate officials, your local business leaders, and your local faith community paying attention to the impact of funding on their schools and their communities?
If schools begin to slip in achievement, facility upkeep, and overall characteristics that make schools effective, enrollment will decline, parents will seek alternatives, real estate values will sink, businesses will not move into or will even move out of your community. You will be left with a community that it is just a shadow of itself.
Telling Our Story That Stings and Sticks with Community Leaders
Now I am not necessarily advocating the "sky-is-falling" approach, but we all need to become more proactive in telling our story that stings and sticks with our community leaders. And we need to find ways to get our government officials — those with education funding responsibilities — to know that making the commitment to education is making the critical choice to maintain and develop a prosperous community in a negative time. Standing up for what's right for our communities should make them a candidate for the next local edition of a "profiles-in-courage" piece in their media outlets. And it will also get them re-elected. Source