David Watson and Naomi Shelton join Heartbeat With Cindi Bright to Discuss Education

Stefani Coverson, Cindi Bright, and David Watson in the #BlackMediaMatters Studio (Photo Jordan Somers)

On this week’s episode of HeartBeat, Cindi Bright welcomed two guests to discuss the ecosystem of education that has severely impacted Brown and Black children. CEO of the National Charter Collaborative Naomi Shelton and Principal of the Rainier Valley Leadership Academy David Watson shared their thoughts on the way the education system has changed and how it effects Brown and Black children in the community.

“A lot of the concerns that I’ve seen are consistent with what was happening prior to the pandemic, but the pandemic has also added a whole other layer of complexity on top of those,” Shelton said. “In addition to the challenges that they’ve seen of family dynamics, funding and other operational issues in schools, they are also faced with the challenges of youth who have to adapt to remote learning.”

Shelton also said that there have been increased instances of violence and issues at home. However, there are efforts underway to combat these problems.

“Folks have doubled down on their work to make sure people have the resources that they need and that they can advocate for themselves,” Watson said.

Watson added that youth have struggled with remote learning due to not having a separation between school live and home life.

“It’s very different when you can leave your home, go to school, and then come back home,” Watson said. “We are working with various organizations to provide healthcare services to our scholars.”

For many youth, school can also be a place to escape a troubled home life. Now, due to remote learning, some youth are being forced to remain in potentially troublesome environments.

“In addition to the academic needs, we also have been thinking through what the social and emotional needs that students have at these times are,” Shelton said.

They also discussed funding and the ways unions have been playing into issues surroudning Black charter schools.

“We know that unions have a tremendous amount of power, and there are challenges to how charter school teachers, who are not required to be part of a union, should behave,” Shelton said. “Those things are often in conflict, but we’ve seen the necessity of what we’re fighting for and what they’re fighting for as well.”