By Renada Toyer
Student Intern
Being a senior in Broward County Public Schools, I’ve seen the problems and potential that shape the classrooms we sit in five days a week. Sitting in testing rooms that have outdated technology that freezes in the middle of State tests and exams. AP courses that my school has and that many students take advantage of that other schools across the county don’t offer. Even though I am a student at a predominantly white high school, I’m still a Black female in today’s school system. I can’t disregard that schools in communities with kids that look just like me are underfunded, under-supported, and last to be acknowledged during tough decisions.
Mr. Bobby Henry Sr. said it himself: “Broward is one of the most diverse school districts in the nation. Yet achievement gaps for Black and Latino students remain.” This gap is more than just numbers on a chart but about my classmates, younger family members, and kids who are coming up in this school system that aren’t given equal opportunities as students in wealthier, whiter neighborhoods.
Speaking with the superintendent, Dr. Hepburn spoke on the hard choice of closing Broward Estates to open an early learning center. He stated, “When you start your K-12 journey off already being behind, you’re playing catch up from there on.” His honesty was nothing less than the truth. Why are our schools in Black neighborhoods getting closed? Why are those schools with less ethnic students kept? Why should communities with my brothers and sisters must give up something to receive what other students have guaranteed? Even though I go to school in Davie, it has not always given me the same spotlight as students that don’t share the same skin as me. Yet, I continue to shine through the storm in order to get the treatment I deserve despite it all.
Dr. Hepburn stated, “If we’re not giving kids the right opportunities when it comes to accelerated learning, they continue to build a different type of gap.” This point was crucial. In schools in such neighborhoods, they don’t just have learning gaps–but they have opportunity gaps. Black students who excel academically don’t get the chance to sit in AP or AICE classrooms because they aren’t being offered or due to teachers being in short supply. This must be changed instantly. Our system must fight hard to ensure that Black schools and students are worth the investment of these opportunities.
“I think parents and students can trust us to know we’re providing the best learning opportunities possible in their schools,” Dr. Hepburn said. These words will speak volume once that trust is earned. History has shown that Black schools are the first to be underprivileged. These actions display survival instead of equity.
My challenge as a student who wants to see change in schools in Black communities but will not stay silent: don’t just redefine Broward Schools verbally–redefine them in our communities with action. Reshape them by ensuring that Black students have access to AP courses, magnet programs, and upgraded facilities as students in more funded areas. Recruit more teachers and principals that want to lead and create change who understand these issues. Redefine these schools by making student voices heard and acknowledge, we are the ones whose actions and suggestions can forever shape the school system for generations of students.
I’m graduating this year, and the Broward County School System will still be here shaping the lives of many Black students. They don’t want to “catch up”, they want to begin the race at the starting line as every other student.
Remember that balance isn’t a dream. It’s a principle. Broward must deli
