What's Beyond the Page?

I started as a paraeducator back in 2006 and I remember noticing a trend. When new students would come to the school, if they were Black and did anything outside of sitting still and shutting up- they were seen as “behavior problems”.

They were always placed in the special education class. I also noticed how quick and easy it was to refer Black students for special education services especially emotional/behavior disorders (EBD), but the lengths these same educators would go to in order to excuse the same exact behavior from a white student was sickening.

Now I’ve always been the type to stand up for what is right and this was no different. I would bring up the issues I saw and I was told it wasn’t my place. I’m just a paraeducator, not a certified teacher.

Ok so I became a certified teacher in learning/behavior disorders (LBD). I had the HARDEST time even landing a teaching job (so much for needing diverse teachers) and when I did finally land a teaching job- same thing. I notice that most, if not all of the students placed in my class and identified as EBD were Black but again white students exhibiting the same exact behaviors were identified with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or other health impairment (OHI). Hmm interesting.

So I say something again. Now I’m told that I don’t need to rock the boat because I’m not tenured yet. Needless to say I never got tenure. I was non renewed each year for various reasons but I KNOW I was blackballed/blacklisted in the district for standing up for my students. Ok so now I’m thinking - I need something to make people listen to me. Getting my Ph.D. was always a personal goal of mine but now it was becoming a necessity.

I needed the research background so I could say “The data shows this…” and I needed those 3 letters behind my name so people wouldn’t be able to dismiss me so easily (they still try). Now I’m in my doctoral program digging deep into the research and statistics and it’s all bad for Black students; then add a disability and the outcomes get worse; now add the EBD label and your outcomes are dire.

Black EBD students are more likely to be in restrictive settings, more likely to drop out, more likely to receive severe disciplinary actions such as suspension and expulsion, more likely to be involved in the criminal justice system, and so on and so forth.

That’s a problem for me. Being told over and over again that I can’t speak freely about these issues got old real quick. So I started Turn the Page so that I can address these issues without fear of retaliation and consequences. This is for me and my people! Stop asking me “Well what about (insert literally anybody else but Black students)?” What about them? They’ve been getting everything they need for years. Black students haven’t. This is for the culture!