GLC is an acronym for Guided Learning Center. However, it is more a place for behavior modification and for punishment than for learning. It is in essence an elementary school jail where insolent elementary grade students are sent to atone for their defiance. You see, Andrew is a third grader, and today is the third time he’s been sent to “the hole” in the past two weeks. He will spend the balance of the school day intermittently completing worksheets and being scolded if he turns away from the direction of the dismal wall.
It might surprise many to know that Andrew is not the hard case that his GLC record portrays him to be. In fact, the infraction that landed him in the hole today was “Failure to Complete Assignment.” Yes. You read that correctly. Andrew was instructed to “write a paragraph,” which was defined by his teacher as “five to six sentences.” Andrew understood this to mean five lines of text, which in his assignment actually made up only four sentences. For many children this would be a great teachable moment. But not for Andrew. This error was characterized as “defiance” by the school’s principal. A previous infraction was “Failure to Secure a Signature” on a notice sent home to parents. As it turns out, Andrew’s mother was traveling. Not to worry. Andrew will pay the price for his mother’s “negligence.” Andrew’s teachers and administrators have been callous in mislabeling him. They have been excessive in punishing him, and it is they who have been defiant in refusing to acknowledge the possibility that their system might be a disservice to children like Andrew. It is clear to me that in the eyes of this school staff… Black Lives Do Not Matter.
I learned of these events as they were happening. Andrew’s mother is herself a former teacher, a well-respected educator, and a leader in her local community. She began advocating publicly for Andrew when it was clear that the school had no interest in treating him with fairness and dignity. Her initial response was to approach Andrew’s teacher directly. She wanted to make it clear to this teacher that she was an involved and concerned parent. She also sought to better understand the reason that her son was so frequently sentenced to GLC. Andrew’s teacher is a young, white female, less than two years removed from a college classroom, and supremely confident in her decisions to remand Black and Latino children to GLC. Andrew’s mother made little progress with this teacher.
Her subsequent response was to approach the administrator at Andrew’s school. She worked to impress upon him that the punishment being meted out to students was out of proportion to their supposed “offenses.” She questioned the wisdom of a school policy that would interpret a child’s learning process as an act of defiance. This administrator was recalcitrant. As the sole author of this school policy, he was unwilling to have it questioned.
With the support of friends, family and her professional colleagues, Andrew’s mother took her crusade to the district superintendent, to the school board, to parents of other children at the school, and ultimately to the local community. Having failed to receive a satisfactory remedy at any of these levels, Andrew’s mother withdrew her son from this school system and began homeschooling. Andrew’s mother demonstrated by her involvement, her advocacy and her sacrifice, that in her eyes… Black Lives Matter.