Every day on my way to work I pass by my old elementary school, Shadydale Elementary on Tidwell Rd. It was one of the crown jewels of the North Forest Independent School District that comprised four elementary schools, four middle schools, and two high schools. I remember Shadydale fondly; it was the first place I picked up a pencil to write a story. It was the first place I picked up an instrument and learned how to read music. I was once told it was the largest all-black school district in the country and considering Houston is the 4th largest city in the country I can believe that.

That was over twenty years ago. In those twenty years a lot has changed, not just the school district that’s now run by Houston Independent School District, but the system in which once made these schools great.

Look at the history books of people that came from schools like Forest Brook, Smiley, Worthing, Wheatley, Kashmere, Jones, and Sterling. Even more schools I’m forgetting, you have politicians, educators, soldiers, doctors, lawyers, writers, musicians, athletes and the list goes on. But over the past twenty years, these schools have seen shrinking attendance and shrinking budgets.

Mega schools popping up in the suburbs, private schools that can’t give scholarships but can provide “financial aid” to families. Communities that were once the highlight of urban community and reform have now been transformed.

I’m not against building up these neighborhoods but why did the city wait until they started putting in 250,000 townhomes to fix the parks. Why did the police wait until charter schools were in to start making sure they had extra patrols around these neighborhoods?

African American men and women that make money left these areas to give their children a better life but in doing so they left behind a generation that was in need of direction. HBCUs flourished because of all-black high schools. There was a pride attached to being a part of a band and then going to college and building on what you learned.

You don’t have to be black to teach black children but you at least need to understand the culture. Charter schools punish children for not being perfect. They don’t take the kids that have behavioral issues because they don’t have to. Everything is one strike and you’re out. If that had been the case so many of us would not be here right now.

I try and stay away from stories where I have a lot of opinions and no real answers so here is a real answer. Give back to the communities in which you grew up. Send your children to these high schools, go back and volunteer or teach at these high schools. Invest in the communities that we have because, in another twenty years, we won’t have those either.