Name change called a slap in the face
BRIDGEPORT — A school board decision to replace its longstanding Males of Color committee with one that will focus more broadly on equity and diversity issues is not sitting well with those who helped establish the group.
In the age of Black Lives Matter, the founder of the original committee, along with other speakers, told the school board last week that the change was not a good look.
“It is imperative that a committee focused on ensuring the success of our males of color and entitled as such is not only continued but sustained as a viable entity affixed to the operations of the Bridgeport Board of Education,” said Sauda Baraka, a former school board chair who helped establish and lead the ad hoc committee in 2015. She left the board in 2017.
“The reason for a Males of Color focus is to right the wrong of an identified affected group,” Baraka added.
After Baraka left, the committee lay dormant for a full year until school board member Joseph Sokolovic took over as chairman. Sokolovic agrees there is work yet to be done. But he successfully pushed for that work to move to a standing committee on Educational Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.
“It will take on all issues of males of color as a natural focal point,” Sokolovic said. “By no means will it be tossed aside. All the work established under the Males of Color committee will continue.”
But in addition to the Males of Color work, the educational diversity committee will also examine issues facing females of color, English language learners and students with special needs.
This new committee will allow for faster implementation of programs and problem solutions, Sokolovic said, and allow future board members to continue unfinished work. Others are not so sure.
With all the gang violence in the city, Lyle Hassan Jones, a retired district truant officer, said the Males of Color committee and the programs it generated is needed to help empower young men in the district to stay clear of social ills.
“We need it now more than ever with this climate of racial injustice,” Jones said.
Some 80 percent of students in the district identify as minority students.
If the name changes, Terry Walden, an academic adviser at Housatonic Community College and committee member, told the board so too, he fears, will its focus.
“We should keep the name as it is,” added Connie Johnson, adding no one other than a male of color should suggest a name change. Sokolovic is white.
Joanne Kennedy, another committee member, said it is important to keep the focus on males of color because once barriers are removed for them everyone will benefit.
The White Paper
Melissa Jenkins, the district’s executive director of early childhood, helped write the White Paper on the Males of Color Committee which was presented in draft form during a virtual school board meeting in June.
Jenkins said a university professor will edit and formalize the document to be presented to the Council of Great City Schools, which backed the Males of Color committee’s work.
Its presentation to the school board in June came as a surprise to Baraka, Kennedy and others who said they were not given advance warning.
“It was kind of a slap in face,” said Kennedy.
Three years in the making, the goal of the paper is to argue for a more formalized mentoring program for young men of color in the district as well as an equity audit of the school system to restructure how males of color experience school.
Outlined are four years of statistics that shows the disparity between where males of color should be and where they are in terms of test scores, discipline and disengagement.
The data presented show some 80 percent or more of Black and brown male students in the district consistently perform below proficiency in math, English/Language Arts and science.
A portion of the 50-page report is written in a first person narrative by committee members, each relating their experiences going through the city school system as a minority student or parent.
Jenkins wrote one section focused on equity that talked of her family’s efforts to get her a transfer when she was still in elementary school to a school two miles away that her parents perceived as being better. One reason, she said, was that more white students attended.
“And 39 years later, thousands of parents still seek a control transfer as an equitable solution.” Jenkins wrote.
In addition to the White Paper, the Males of Color committee held two community forums, established mentoring programs in conjunction with the Buddy Jordan Foundation and advocated for hiring practices to increase the number of minority teachers in the school district.
Bobbi Brown, a board member, said she was not only blown away by the report, but praised that it was written in an easy-to-read format.
When the school board met on Sept. 14, Baraka argued that one piece of the committee’s work left undone was the establishment of a district office focused on males of color.
“Until our Black males and males of color are no longer in the cross hairs, this work remains relevant and stands alone,” she told the board.
Sokolovic countered that if the Males of Color committee did not evolve into a new standing committee with a new name, it would need a new chairman.
He said he was insulted with the suggestion that a white male should not be in a position to change the name since he was the one to keep the group going.
Sokolovic said the White Paper would serve as the jumping off point for the new group.
Board member Jessica Martinez, who wanted more time to discuss the new committee’s direction, ended up voting against the change. Board members Brown and Albert Benejan abstained.
Schools Superintendent Michael Testani said he agreed the work of the group should be expanded beyond males of color.
“It needs to widen the net to capture more males and females we seem to be losing at an alarming rate,” Testani said.
The new committee will be chaired by Sokolvic, with Brown and Hernan Illingworth as members.
Baraka said she suspects that the committee’s work will shift.
“It’s imperative that we as a nation call our work — issue — concern — by its name, if we want there to be change and in our case success in the academic arena for our males of color,” Baraka said.
“Black Lives Matter,” she added, “because Black lives are at risk, The same exists for our males in our Bridgeport Public Schools.”