There are a lot of changes going on in the attempts by our political and education system to improve the public school system in Mobile. Plagued with issues such as economic and racial disparities, there is a great need to make things better for all of our children to receive a quality education for the good of our society.
One of the recent changes proposed that will affect Mobile public schools in the next couple of years is Alabama’s new law related to charter schools. Thus, Mobile County NAACP is hosting a series of community forums this summer and fall focused on informing the public about education issues in Mobile.
The Mobile County NAACP will facilitate the second in the series that is more focused on engagement by parents, faith leaders and the community as a whole. As before, the discussion includes providing quality public education in light of issues such as school re-segregation, poverty, low- and high-achieving students, the right to public education, and more.
The second community discussion on August 20 is themed “The Moral Imperative for Community and Parental Involvement in Children’s Education.” The forum will be held at the Ben May Library Auditorium in Downtown Mobile from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
About 10 leaders from Mobile’s religious community will speak about why we as parents and as a community as a whole should be focused on our children’s education. One main question under consideration is: What does each faith tradition say about education?
“Our main hope is that people will see that, despite whatever religious differences we may have, we are and can be united when it comes to attending to our children’s needs and their education,” says Dr. Demetrius Semien, an assistant sociology professor at Spring Hill College and an executive member of the Mobile County NAACP.
The panel features:
- Imam Matthew Abdullah
Resident Imam-Prichard Masjid of Al-Islam - Rev. Trey Doyle
First Baptist Church - Rev. Milton E. Saffold
Stone Street Baptist Church - Cassandra Rogers
Founder, Worthy of Life - Paul McLendon D. Min.
Hillcrest Baptist Church - Rev. Kathy Jorgenson
Dauphin United Methodist Church - Elder Makinde Gbolohan
Emmanuel Seven-Day Adventist Church - Rev. Jim Flowers
All Saint’s Episcopal Church - Pastor E. G. Scott
Mt. Olive Missionary Baptist Church No. 1 - Rabbi Steven L. Silberman
Ahavas Chesed Synagogue - Rev. Ellen Sims
Open Table United Church of Christ - Father Stephen Sohe
St. Joseph Catholic Church
The hour-long panel discussion will be followed by a question-and-answer session by parents and community members about how to be more engaged in improving children’s education in Mobile.
The first forum, that focused on what charter schools were, was held on July 16.
“It was quite successful, ” says Dr. Semien, one of the forum’s main organizers. “We brought academic experts and professionals together to offer their perspectives on charter schools. They explained the pros and cons – i.e., the potential opportunities and threats represented by charter schools. After the presentations, we had a community dialogue where people were able to raise questions and make comments about how they felt about charter schools.”
He says the last education forum, set for September, will be a major event where we hope to “pack the house” as we encourage the Mobile community to move into action to support improving efforts to educate our children.
Mobile County NAACP President Ronald Ali stresses that neither the local chapter nor the NAACP’s state leadership has not taken an official position to either support or oppose charter schools in Alabama.
“However, we are making efforts to ensure that parents and community members become informed about the new charter school law and other changes related to schools in our area,” Ali says.
The forums will be followed in October and November by a door-to-door campaign concentrated in impoverished areas of Mobile. Our goal is to make sure parents there are informed about charter schools and issues related to education in our community.
David Smith, the Mobile NAACP Education Chair says our goal is to make sure parents there are informed about charter schools and issues related to education in our community.
