The forum was geared toward students, parents and community members
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) – A task force in the Valley is focusing on education for Black students and calling out a local school district in the process.
Youngstown’s Community Education Oversight Taskforce was created in October. Its goal is to ensure equal education for all students.
Its member are:
- Lois Thornton, retired elementary principal
- Lois Haynes-Paige, educator/entrepreneurship & mentorship specialist
- Wanda Smith, educator/counselor
- Martha Robinson-Brogdon, educator/youth advisor
- Phillip Warren, educator/businessman
- Jackie Adair, educator/school board member
- Gail Faison-Tigner, educator
- George Freeman, co-chair, state NAACP president’s taskforce
- James Brown, NAACP president
- Pamela Collins, community social justice advocate
- Jimma McWilson, advocate/Kemetic Africologist
- Wali Salahuddin, advocate/kemetic minister
During a virtual forum on Wednesday, members talked about “22 years of academic ‘F’ ratings for Black students” and expressed a belief that Youngstown City Schools is not doing all it can to help Black students.
“With the district spending as much as it has at more than $3 billion and still has nothing but ‘Fs’ is unacceptable. It’s up to the members of our community to hold people accountable and to actually bring our children out of their subjugation,” said James Brown, president of the Youngstown branch of the NAACP.
The taskforce also talked about the breakdown of different subjects of learning.
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