An Explanation of Why

July 1959: I entered this world the son of the Reverend John Hare Bonner Jr. and Henrietta (Retta) Aughtry Bonner. My dad, an episcopal priest, would drive integration in Chattanooga, Tennessee. My mother served many terms as district PTA chair, helped start school lunch programs at inner city schools, and advocated for parenting education in schools. Together they raised six children. All living lives dedicated to education.

April 4, 1968: I witnessed the news bulletin announcing Martin Luther Kings murder.

Spring 1968: My first summer in little league was also my first encounter with Black peers.

Spring of 1971: White flight began in earnest. The population in my elementary school dropped a third the next fall.

Spring of 1974: Black students were bussed from Howard Junior High School to Northside Junior High.

Spring of 1978: Graduated from Chattanooga High School. We were 50% black and 50% white. Little conflict and lots of pride in the school.

Summer of 1978: Successfully Co-led an initiative for an elected school board.

Fall of 1978: Attended the University of the South, Sewanee, TN. A predominantly white Episcopal Liberal Arts School known for its academic rigor. This is where I learned how to study. I also took an excellent course on the history of American Education that introduced me to Jean Jacques Rousseau and The One Best System by David Tyack.

Fall of 1982: First year as an art teacher at Eastway Junior High School. When I started there it, like most Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, was 60% white and 40% black.

Late 1980s: Eastway transformed into a high poverty majority minority school. I taught, coached, and learned what it meant to care for others.

1986: I joined the Teaching Learning Center with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools where we sought solutions for schools at the classroom level.

December 0f 1990: I got married.

Spring of 1993: I became a father.

Spring of 1995: Another Child

Fall of 1995: I joined the staff at Garinger High School and taught Honors Humanities World History along with Art. Many of my history students were from Southeast Asia. I learned the significant impact of culture on the interpretation of history.

March of 1999: My first tour as an assistant Principal at Francis Bradley Middle School in the Charlotte suburb of Huntersville. During my tenure there The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools was declared unitary. This led to the eventual re-segregation of the schools both racially and economically. In 2001 there were 12 High poverty schools. Now there are 105 Title 1 Schools. A lawsuit over magnet assignments led to the end of busing and the resegregation of the school system.

August 2004: My tenure as assistant principal at Piedmont Open Middle School shook my racial and socio-economic biases to the core. When interviewed at this incredible majority minority school, I asked why their model wasn’t replicated throughout the district. I learned about possibilities.

July 2007: My first principal assignment was at Myers Park Traditional Elementary School. A magnet school in one of the wealthiest parts of Charlotte, we served prosperity and poverty. The community was proud of our status as a diverse high performing school. I attributed my experience as a student in public schools, an alum of a wealthy university, and my work with diverse students as the reason my leadership style worked at this school. My work at Piedmont and Myers Park Traditional confirmed my belief that staff quality was the key to student success.

June 2012: I was recruited to bring Providence Elementary School in Huntsville, AL to International Baccalaureate status. We succeeded in this majority minority school with 65% poverty by bringing in Mandarin as our second language and exposing our students to a global education. We gained IB PYP authorization in the fall of 2016.

Diversity has become a critical component of our success as a nation since the civil rights legislation in 1965. The public schools have played a crucial role in our economic and social strength. The current assault on our public schools is misguided and detrimental to our health and well-being as a country. The so called “choice movement” that advocates charters, home schooling, and vouchers has acted as a wedge that prevents the intellectual and cultural diversity necessary for a prosperous nation.

Schooling is not just about acquiring knowledge but gaining a collective understanding of how we are connected as humans. In the United States we having been toying with the idea that we can get it all on our own. That others don’t matter. Our technological heft has convinced us that we can have it all. Yet, we are struggling with ourselves and one another.

When technology began to provide evidence that many were unable to read or even succeed in school, some in our culture determined that it was the fault of the public schools. Political forces decided that the best way to remedy this revelation was to punish schools that were not performing well according to this data. Fire Principals, fire teachers, close schools, and cut funding.

What was conveniently ignored was what the data was really telling us. Our caste society was great for any with means and difficult for those without. The remedy of the prosperous was to reduce resources for those who struggle. Therefore, the problem continues.

I am so thankful for my upbringing and this life. I have encountered many from most walks of life and have grown through those interactions. I have had many adventures and epiphanies through such opportunities. The construct of school provides the best vehicle to introduce our children to the world. This choice to isolate our children from anyone who is different can only lead to societal collapse. Well-resourced public schools reduce dependence, improve well-being, and promote a strong fabric of civic and economic prosperity. This is what I have seen. This is what I have felt. This is what I have experienced. This what our country experienced between World War Two and this contemporary neoliberal order.

When Jesus tells us to love one another, it is not merely to embrace, but to struggle and triumph alongside. No matter one’s beliefs, this is critical for our children and us. Separating our children does not protect them but makes them vulnerable. Denying the reality of diversity only heightens insecurity. Public schools are communities that bring us together to confront the challenges of existence. Cutting that resource makes our future perilous.

©Paul A. Bonner