“We recommend our community rethink placing the onus on children, as this lead sentence conveys: ‘In Asheville, Black students have lagged behind their white counterparts in literacy for decades, according to test scores over time,’ and instead acknowledge the systems at work that push children to the margins.”
Read to Succeed, OpenDoors of Asheville and Big Brothers Big Sisters of WNC have all begun to focus more intentionally on closing race-based opportunity gaps in recent years.
“I am overjoyed at the sight of dedicated community partners coming together to support our children who have historically been pushed to the margins.”
While the statistics are bleak and the systemic obstacles are many, local individuals and community-based organizations are pursuing their own approaches to tackling long-standing inequities among students at Asheville City Schools.
Now in its fifth week, the PODS program aims to address the opportunity gap between Black and white students in the Asheville City Schools. Students meet in small groups to receive support with online learning; PODS staff act as a liaison between ACS teachers and students to engage and offer additional enrichment for kids who are struggling academically.
