Culturally Proficient Leadership: Emerging thoughts

After completing the book Culturally Proficient Leadership and being part of our class discussion last Wednesday, I am most interested with how poverty and socioeconomic differences can become excuses for underachievement.  Many teachers still believe that these social class issues are the reason students are not performing.  I was inspired by Joel's closing remarks regarding finding the courage to stand up to the toxic voices that constantly want to place blame.  Those teacher needs to reexamine how best practices help students learn. 

When the conversation came up about how the VUSD district allows students to attend a school outside their neighborhood boundaries, I questioned why that is such a hot topic for me as an educator. Here are my thoughts:

 Last year my math team and I went to a 5th grade classroom to meet the incoming 6th graders.  When we told the students that we were from Rancho Minerva Middle School many of them said, "My mom said I'm not going there.  I'm going to Madison".  Senarios like this happen over and over again.  My concern is for the students who do come to RMMS.  How does this toxic message make them feel about their school?  People within the community hear this message and begin to feel the same way about RMMS and that the students who attend there are limited by their socioeconomic status.  I want to change the way our school and its students are viewed and I think the first step is requiring students to attend their neighborhood school instead of their school of choice.  This would create diverse populations among all Vista campuses and begin to change the way students and the community view their schools.