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In Guest Blog

Brown v Board of Education: A Divided Legacy?

An Interview with former Mississippi Supreme Court Justice Fred Banks, Jr. This article is based on an Interview with former Mississippi Supreme Court Justice Fred Banks, Jr. Currently, Judge Banks is a senior partner in the Jackson, Mississippi office of the Phelps and Dunbar law firm — established in New Orleans, LA in 1853, with offices across the Gulf Coast, Raleigh, NC and London, England. Fred Banks, Jr. was in middle school in Jackson, Mississippi at the time of the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas decision in 1954 (subsequent references: “Brown v. Board”). Years later (1968), he…
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In Public School Proud

Empowering People to Transform Their Communities

This is the first of two features about PPS National’s Community Coordinators. These unsung heroes work within communities to help citizens understand how to influence positive change in the places that they call home. Chiquikta Fountain worked as a Parents for Public Schools Parent Coach for five years before becoming a PPS Community Coordinator. The new position meant working within communities to educate people about how to help improve their community’s standard of living. At first, the job was not exactly what she had in mind, to say the least. Chiquikta admits that the job had to “grow on her,”…
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In Chapter Work

PPS of Pitt County Provides Special Workshop to Prepare Kindergarten Parents for School

The conversation usually begins with something like, “I can’t believe the time has come!” or, “How did my baby grow up so fast?” These parents have questions about kindergarten, such as how to register their child, when and how to know which school their child should attend, and, how to navigate the school choice option in Pitt County (where some schools have an Open Enrollment policy). Thankfully, as those calls and emails begin to roll in, PPS of Pitt County is able to provide parents a comforting answer: “Attend Kindergarten 101, and you’ll learn everything you need to know!” Kindergarten…
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In Chapter Work

Working for Education Funding and Equity

All Parents for Public Schools chapters share a mission of supporting quality public education for everyone. The context of the Hawai‘i chapter is different in a few ways. Hawai’i is the only state with one school district, the only one that does not fund public schools with property taxes, and Hawai‘i has the highest private school enrollment in the country. Hawai‘i also ranks 45th in per student funding and has the lowest teacher pay (adjusting for the cost of living) and highest teacher turnover. This school year, over 1,000 classrooms are without a qualified teacher. Native Hawaiian students are more…
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In Chapter Work, Public School Proud

Pitt County Economic Sector Reps Unite to Show Students Their County’s Career Options

Great things happen when communities unite their resources! Pitt County Schools, the Greenville-Pitt County Chamber of Commerce, and the Pitt County Development Commission joined forces to sponsor Grow Local, a weeklong opportunity held March 18-22 for local businesses to highlight the careers available to the county's middle and high school students. Kathy Herring, board member of the Pitt County PPS, served on the planning team, providing input as organizers designed an event they hoped would engage 1,000 students with businesses across the county. They were thrilled that almost 3,000 students participated, taking advantage of the opportunity to learn about a…
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In Chapter Work

Community Conversations: Equity Major Theme

business team meeting
We compile those comments into a written report that is also presented orally to our Board of Education.  We include recommendations for what should continue and any changes the community might like to see. As we tell participants at the conversations, we like to imagine that PPS-PC is a vehicle that holds the voices of the community and drives them to key decision makers in our community. This year, 262 individuals participated in 21 conversations. Participants included a diverse range: Kiwanis and Rotary clubs, Girl Scout leaders, PTA participants, parenting groups organized by local nonprofits, and members of nonprofit boards,…
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