An Equity Champion Seeks Common Ground
January 23, 2024
- Author
- Mary Elizabeth DeAngelis
Timisha Barnes-Jones 92 believes polarization often leads to dereliction.
Partisan differencesabout funding and policy have roiled schools across the country. She says such fightsover budgets, curriculum, social issues, and powerobstruct Americas responsibility to provide a strong education for all children.
We need to find some common ground. We cant keep turning a blind eye to the inequities and underfunding in public education, she says. Equity is a benefit for everybody. Theyre not these kids and those kidstheyre all of our children.
Shes an assistant superintendent of Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools and specializes in leadership development and school transformation. Its North Carolinas fourth-largest school district and serves more than 53,000 pre-K12 students.
She wishes more people saw the connection between poverty and educational needs.
Closing learning gaps can range from smaller class sizes to tutoring and mentorship programs. It can include partnerships with businesses and government and non-profit agencies to address housing, food, safety and health needs. Shes led such efforts and seen them work.
For all students to succeed, we must get to the point that success and failure is not predictable by race, economic or other social factors. Its about providing what every child needs to succeed.
We need to find some common ground. We cant keep turning a blind eye to the inequities and underfunding in public education. Equity is a benefit for everybody. Theyre not these kids and those kidstheyre all of our children.
Musician, Teacher, Leader
She originally planned a music career, but teaching won. Her journey with Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools took her from elementary school music teacher to high school chorus teacher, then principal. She obtained masters and doctoral degrees. She served as Director of School Improvement in Savannah, Georgia, before moving back to North Carolina.
She developed a reputation as a turn-around specialist. Under her leadership, West Charlotte High School graduation rates rose by 54% in four years. She was CMSs 2018 Principal of the Year, and in 2019, North Carolinas Principal of the Year for the southwest region.
She recalls this story as a lesson for todays climate:
Some white students from Ardrey Kell High School in south Charlotte taunted a Black middle-schooler with racist language at a football game. Amid the anger and extensive media coverage, some students from Ardrey Kell and West Charlotte banded together.
They met at West Charlotte, where they talked about perceptions and prejudices kids from different sides of town had about each other. They named their collaboration West Kell.
And something terrible became something beautiful, Barnes-Jones says. Even though their circumstances were different, they got to see how much they have in common. They grew to care about each other.
As adults, we need to follow their example. No one is immune to the polarization going on today. How do we bring all our chairs up to the table and truly make a difference?
Return to And Education for All: These public-school educators teach, lead, counsel, nurture, care.
This article was originally published in the Fall/Winter 2023 print issue of the 91 Journal Magazine; for more, please see the 91 Journal section of our website.
