Tag: teachers

Who Killed Detroit’s Public Education System?

Well-meaning Adults!

Detroit’s public education system has faced profound challenges for decades. Those old enough to remember the 1968 Northern High School walkout—led by students Charles Colding, Michael Batchelor, and Judith Walker—recall a pivotal moment in the struggle for educational equity for Black students in the North End. For many, it was an early glimpse into the deep inequities that existed within the system.

Over the years, I have witnessed the gradual decline of public education in Detroit. In 1973, my dear friend, the late Judge Longworth Quinn, Jr., who served on the Detroit Board of Education, lamented, “We just need to blow the system up and start from scratch.” His words reflected not despair, but a desire to rebuild a system worthy of its children. Since that time, enrollment in Detroit’s public schools has fallen dramatically, due in part to the city’s population loss and in part to too many families losing confidence in the schools themselves. I often wonder how many families might have remained in Detroit had the educational system better met their needs.

Public education remains one of America’s noblest ideals. At its best, it opens doors to every child, regardless of race, income, faith, or background. It promotes civic engagement, inclusion, transparency, and accountability, while providing vital services to students with diverse needs. In many ways, it is democracy in action.

Yet somewhere along the way, we lost sight of our true north star: the well-being and flourishing of children. Countless reforms, often advanced by sincere and well-intentioned adults, have produced mixed results. New governance models, charter schools, vouchers, and state interventions have brought innovation in some cases and disappointment in others. Too often, children have borne the burden of experimentation.

Scripture reminds us that we are stewards of the next generation: “Train up a child in the way he should go” (Proverbs 22:6). The measure of any educational system, therefore, is not politics or ideology, but whether it nurtures the intellectual, moral, and social development of its students.

Detroit’s future calls for a comprehensive, community-driven vision for education—one that honors state standards while embracing transformative values rooted in service, accountability, and hope. Such a coalition must draw its authority not from political power, but from the trust of families and citizens who are willing to say, “We entrust you with our children.”

Perhaps the time has come to convene a citizens’ council dedicated to returning the focus of public education from systems and institutions to families, children, and youth. Its authority would rest not in elected office, but in the collective voice of the people, united by a single purpose: to help every child reach his or her fullest potential. In many ways, it would serve as a modern expression of the PTA or PTO. For this vision to succeed, however, the council must remain independent—accountable neither to foundations, government agencies, nor corporations, but solely to the families and communities it exists to serve.

Maybe this is an ambitious dream. Yet I remain convinced that public education can still embody the very best of democracy and become a beacon of opportunity for generations to come.

I’m just saying—what say you?

I’m Just Saying: It’s Time to Take Back Public Education

Somehow, the people who lead our governmental, philanthropic, and corporate sectors have decided that urban public education should be shaped and guided by corporate executives. Let me say this plainly: that decision is one of the greatest educational atrocities of our time. It may very well be the reason our children continue to be failed by the very systems meant to uplift them.

What troubles me even more is that we, as a society, don’t seem to recognize how deeply capitalism—unchecked, unchallenged, and unexamined—has damaged the world we live in. And before anyone starts labeling me a communist or socialist, let me be clear: I am a follower of Christ. Through a Christian lens, I view this conversation about education, human dignity, and communal responsibility.

Recently, I attended the screening of a new documentary produced by Mr. Quan Neloms. In it, a community activist said something that struck me with the force of a thunderbolt:
“Our students are not failing; our system is failing our students.”
 That statement alone is worth a hundred billion dollars—especially since we’ve begun evaluating everything through the lens of dollars and cents.

For more than twenty years, I have watched our public educational institutions shift from being grounded in urban pedagogical wisdom to being transformed into corporate training centers. The focus is no longer on children, families, or community. Instead, the agenda is shaped by corporate profitability and workforce preparation. We have displaced parents from the center of their children’s educational journey and handed that authority to corporate and philanthropic executives—many of whom have never taught, never lived in our communities, and never raised a Black or Brown child.

And the justification seems to be rooted in a dangerous, unspoken theory:
that urban parents lack the love, care, or competence to know what is best for their own children.

What’s even more alarming is that far too many faith-based institutions have bought into the same narrative. Churches—historically the backbone of Black educational empowerment—are now echoing corporate talking points rather than community wisdom. Our system has shifted from prioritizing the public good to prioritizing profit. From nurturing critical thinkers to mass-producing compliant workers.

I often wonder what Horace Mann, the father of American public education, would think about the direction in which we’ve drifted. He fought for an education system that served everyone, but he was not confronted with the realities of race and diversity as we are today. Would he be shocked? Or would he say that the inequities we see are intentional design?

And that’s the question I wrestle with:
Are those in high places truly committed to giving Black and Brown children a quality education—one that would make them competitive with the privileged?

Back in 1973, my dear friend Judge Longworth Quinn Jr., who served on the Detroit Public Schools Board, said something I’ll never forget:
“The only hope for educational reform would be to blow it up and redesign it.”
 More than 50 years later, he might very well have been an educational prophet.

We cannot allow our system to be reimagined by people whose primary interests are reform metrics, funding streams, and political agendas—not the dignity and destiny of our children. As my friend and retired educator William Batchelor often reminds me,
“We know how to educate our children.”
And my response today is: Let’s move the systems out of the way and let the educators do what they were called to do.

Beginning this February, Be-Moor Radio and the Be-Moor Radio Institute will launch an educational podcast series titled “Class Is in Session.” This platform will feature students, educators, retired educators, parents, community leaders—and yes, we want you to be part of it. Our goal is to build a real, authentic grassroots movement that transforms education with tangible, measurable results.

We hope to uplift the legacy of champions like Helen Moore, Judge Longworth Quinn Jr., Fannie Jackson Coppin, Benjamin Banneker, Mary McLeod Bethune, and my aunt Katie E.M. Mallett—a proud Jackson State graduate who, as a young girl in Kosciusko, Mississippi, taught all her siblings before moving to Detroit and serving the Highland Park School System. These are the giants whose shoulders we stand on. And they are joined by thousands of unnamed educators who have carried the torch of Black educational excellence quietly and faithfully.

It is time—past time—to reclaim public education for our Black and Brown children. Time to rewrite our academic agenda based on our history, our values, our culture, and our vision.

So I ask you—
What say you?