State-Of-Black-Oregon-2015

CASE STUDY 3FIGHTING FOR HER CHILDREN’SEDUCATION & REDEFINING RESPECTDonelda Weiss spends 35 percent ofher time navigating the school system.She’s been doing it so much, she putseverything in writing, literally.It’s a Thursday; and she’s already been to herchildren’s schools four times, all to ask why herkids keep getting suspended from the schoolbus and sent out of class. They’re not the onesfighting and throwing stuff, she says. Instead,they’re getting suspended from the bus formonths at a time for such infractions as “talkingtoo loud”—hardly an anomaly for elementaryand middle school students.They’re not alone. Donelda says Blackstudents in her school district are beingdisproportionately and unfairly disciplinedcompared with their White counterparts.Furthermore, many parents either don’t knowor feel too discouraged by the school system totake action.Donelda says tapes of the district’s schoolbuses show similar behaviors between Whiteand Black children. But White kids rarely getkicked off the bus. The students paying to usethe city bus and walking to school are primarilylow-income and children of color.“More than any other kid, these kids needschool not only for education but for food, formentoring, for inspiring and empowering.By the school taking the buses away from themand then walking back and forth from school—they’re only going to walk so many times.”When Donelda gets a call from the school,it’s most often about her children being“disrespectful.” That word in particular is usedto degrade children of color and parents alike,says Donelda, referencing an incident where ateacher claimed she “demanded” an incidentreport.“It’s all in the writing. When they write thesereports, they write them so the report looksnegative.” Donelda has also learned thatdocumenting everything is a must. Thisattention to detail helped her when she decidedthat the stress of riding the school bus was nolonger a good option for her boys. With the helpof an Urban League advocate, she successfullynegotiated with the school district to pay forpublic transportation to school for her children,citing a series of incidents she thought wereunfair and biased.“This was definitely a win and I felt good aboutit. The school wants me to problem solve andto figure out issues, which I’m more than happyto and I do. But I also think the school needs tosolve their issues as well, instead of me havingto do it. They’re educators. They’re teachers.They’re trained. They need to know how tocommunicate with the kids.”40