By james art 
As a former school student who has become the parent of the school, I am disappointed with how interrupted our school board of the Leon County appeared during the recent meeting for the agenda for the election of the school.
The Council’s belief that parents do not have the ability to make informed decisions about the education of their children or to provide high quality instructions outside the public school system are contrary to the basic principle that families are best to decide what works for their children.
The educational cataclysm during the Covid-19 pandemic had to give a clear lesson: parents are the most important experts of their children. As parents, we have an unparalleled understanding of the strengths, weaknesses and needs of our children – more than even the most aware member of the school board or an experienced principal. However, the resistance to the choice of school continues, with the opposition rooted in outdated perspectives, not a real commitment to improving educational results.
Despite the resistance to school selection vouchers, parents will continue to activate and take on a bigger role in targeting their children’s education. This trend is guided by growing concerns about the presentation of public schools.
For two consecutive years, the percentage of the completion of Leon County has fallen below the average for the state, emphasizing the constant challenges in meeting the academic needs of students. Chronic absences in Leon County have increased to alarming levels, with more students missing a significant part of the school year than ever. This worrying trend directly affects the results of the training, as evidenced by the fact that less than 12% of third -graders have mastered reading last year, a fundamental skill critical of future academic and life success.
Throughout the country, families run the boundaries of traditional education by exploring innovative approaches such as hybrid school models, individualized curricula and a combination of personal and online learning circles. Restricting students to a school, based solely on their postal code, is an outdated approach that limits the potential. Parents recognize this and rightly use alternatives that offer more flexibility and personalization.
More than 1.4 million parents in Florida use school choices to better meet the needs of their children. I am proud to count among them. As a mother of two boys – one attending a public school and the other enrolled in a private school – I experienced first -hand the transformative impact of the choice of school. My double perspective, as well as an advocate for choosing a school and mom in the classroom in both conditions, emphasizes the value of mastering families to make educational decisions.
It is time for our school board to accept this growing tendency and admit that the choice of parental oriented is not a threat to public education, but an opportunity.
Considering the choice of a school as a catalyst for innovation, public schools can accept successful strategies to improve results and attract more families.
Schools within our area have proven that improvements are possible, so instead of blaming the choice of school decline, school leaders should identify and scales strategies that have contributed to these improvements to attracting families.
In this way, we can create a more illuminated future where every child has the chance to succeed, regardless of their postal code.
Inika Williams, Ed.D., is a former leadership adviser in Leon County, a defender of education and a mother of two in Leon County.
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