AQUAN ROBINSON
my son is in right now, and I know other parents at that school feel the same way,” he said. “But once he gets to 5th grade, that’s where it drops off, and that’s when parents have to make a hard decision.” He echoed Garth’s worries about public schools, but had some additional thoughts about root causes. “There’s a lot of blame to go around. Some board members have been in place a long time, and I’m not sure if it is just complacency or a resistance to work with others, but their inactivity has played a role, so I think
“There’s a lot of blame to go around. Some board members have been in place a long time, and I’m not sure if it is just complacency or a resistance to work with others, but their inactivity has played a role.”
it’s time for some change,” he said. “There is a butting of heads between the school board and other powers above them and
and brightest aren’t with other kids, where they could have a
not enough working together.”
positive influence. And you’re taking all of the involved parents and putting them in one place. So, I love them, but I wonder if
He also believes race still plays a role. “When you talk about
they are hurting other schools. Same with charter schools. I like
MPS, and the magnet schools, the majority of the students are
the way that sounds, but I’m not sure how it really works.”
minority kids, while a lot of the law makers and policy makers are white, and typically, their kids aren’t even in MPS,” he said.
Pride in his city has pushed Robinson to stay active and
“On the flipside, you have school board members who are
engaged; it sparked him to form the South Central Business
minorities who have not been making the best decisions, and
District, a group of concerned citizens and business owners
there is so much finger-pointing and not much accepting of
working to help revitalize and reenergize the area around the
responsibility.”
Southern Boulevard, Troy Highway and McGehee Road. It also prompts him to look for the good. “There are a lot of things
He’s a product of the magnet schools, graduating from BTW,
wrong with the school system, and we hear a lot about that,
but he’s conflicted about the program today. “The magnet
but no one talks about what is right, and that is unfair to the
schools are great for the students they have,” he said. “They
teachers and administrators working their tails off to do right by
are the best and the brightest, but that also means the best
the students.”
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MONTGOMERY BUSINESS JOURNAL