The Courage to Lead with Integrity for Equity: An Authentic Educational Equity Journey/Thread

Copyright © 2024 by Dr. Ronald G. Taylor

The Courage to Lead with Integrity for Equity –

An authentic educational equity journey/thread

(as a student, teacher, principal, superintendent, and researcher)

Endangered Species: Underrated, Undervalued, Underrepresented

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

ISBN: 979-8-3509-8203-9 (print)

ISBN: 979-8-35099-082-9 (eBook)

Contents

Preface

Ch 1 Introduction/Not Really a Memoir

Ch 2 Epiphany to South West

Ch 3 Hard work works

Ch 4 Maslow’s Broken Windows

Ch 5 Scholarly Equity Research

Ch 6 Representation not only matters . . . it changed my life

Ch 7 What is the main thing?

Ch 8 Superintendency during the School Equity Wars

Ch 9 The Halloween Story

Ch 10 It’s always the right time to do the right thing

Postscript

Appendix

References

The Reviews are in…

Dr. Ronald Taylor’s A Courage to Lead paints a vivid, powerful picture of social context and the resilience and collective responses of people who dare to build bridges of social mobility for their future leaders. This is essential reading for anybody who is committed to using dynamic creativity and cultural awareness when preparing today’s youth for those bridges. Those committed to educational equity.

—

Dr. Carl V. Hill

,

Chief Diversity Equity and Inclusion Officer, Alzheimer’s Association

Amidst the intense pressure of educational leadership and negative political climates, an equity champion knows there is no time like the present to stand up, uphold justice, and prioritize students first. With his steadfast dedication to equity, Dr. Ronald Taylor has exemplified that courage throughout his three-decade educational career.

—

Eddie Lincoln

, CEO, Equal Opportunity Schools

Education is the only thing that consistently changes lives generationally. Having and receiving a quality education will alter an individual, a family, and a community’s trajectory for decades. I would argue that Dr. Taylor’s WORK and this wonderful BOOK are a true expression of that truth. This reflection is a must-read for today’s educators.

—

Jason Marshall

, Executive Director, Wesley International Academy

This is a book about true leadership. Having led in multiple corporate environments as well as in the military, I learned early on that leadership is about being in the people business. It is clear that Dr. Taylor is unapologetic in his passion for always doing what’s right for people. It is a brilliant combination of storytelling and moments where you as the reader are forced to pause and contemplate what you would do if you were in the same situation. His arguments for equity and the possibilities that it would unlock for our society are captivating.

—

Kamau Witherspoon

CEO/Corporate Executive/Former U.S. Navy Officer

In The Courage to Lead with Integrity for Equity, Dr. Ronald Taylor masterfully intertwines personal memoir with decades of school and district leadership experience to offer a powerful testament to the pursuit and pitfalls of educational equity. His compelling narrative not only chronicles the remarkable progress achieved but also candidly addresses the challenges and opportunities encountered along the way. Dr. Taylor’s insights provide a profound guide for anyone dedicated to leading in the face of complex change and ambiguity. His book will inspire educational leaders committed to fostering genuine and transformative change in our schools.

—

Courtney Winkfield

District Leader, author Shifting Self & System

Preface

This book is focused on the author’s lived thread of ‘school equity’ and how it influenced his educational journey as a student, teacher, school administrator (principal and assistant principal), superintendent, and researcher. This story shares how educational equity initiatives repeatedly affected the trajectory of his life and how he went on to develop and utilize school equity measures to impact the lives of thousands of students positively. Lastly, the author shares the scholarly research that accompanied the journey above; including but not limited to his 2009 dissertation (which was featured by the Education Facilities Clearinghouse - EFC) on the effect of school facility condition on student achievement, which led to a legacy of school construction he realized as a superintendent of schools/chief school administrator in multiple districts that totaled more than $200M.

1

Introduction/Not Really a Memoir

To some, this book will be viewed as a memoir of the life of a Black man born in the United States of America who, on the surface, was born into circumstances that mimic stereotype challenges that have been repeatedly portrayed in mass media for generations. A Black boy raised by a single mother who was physically abused by his substance-abusing, addict father. A loving grandmother who was heavily invested in the child’s future, although her job was considered menial labor by the definitions of the affluent. A family who has roots in the Jim Crow South moved to Detroit during the great migration for better jobs in the city known to be an automotive juggernaut of the 1950s after picking cotton for generations.

No one in the child’s direct bloodline (mother/father, grandparents, siblings) at the time had graduated from a four-year college. He was born in a city that was quickly becoming the murder capital of the country and the center of the 1980s crack cocaine epidemic. He then matriculated in schools as an adolescent during a time when children of his race, gender, and socio-economic status were loudly referred to as ‘an endangered species’ in public discourse and schools by the educators entrusted with them.

This book is not just a reflection of the bias and institutional racism experienced by the child in the previously described circumstances. It is far more complex than that; this book is the reflection of the power of educational equity and how someone who is born an underdog can become successful and leverage public education as both a student and educator to beat the odds (for himself and others).

Q: When reflecting on your adolescence, what stereotype(s) do you recall being associated with your demographic?

How do you recall feeling when you became aware of this association?

Do you remember how you became aware of this?

Do you still reckon with this prejudice today? If so, how?

2

Epiphany to South West

My obsession with the topic of school equity began at the age of twelve. This timeline is still so clear to me because it was the first real shift I recall from my childhood. I grew up in Detroit, Michigan, in a working-class neighborhood. Some would have called it lower-middle class, or even the ghetto. Like many in my community, my father was not a presence in my life, but I was so fortunate to have a loving, hard-working mother and grandmother who cared deeply about my education. It was well known by my family members that my father was an addict who had abused my mother. My father had been abusive to my mother even in front of my family members. My mother never spoke ill of my father and only answered questions that I asked during that time in her life. My father briefly returned to my life at the age of eleven. I was so used to him not being around that when my friends would ask me who the man was who had stopped by during that year or so, I would tell them he was my crazy cousin or uncle, shamed by his appearance and surprised by his arrival. One of my only early memories of my father was him kidnapping me from a school play. I was excited and prepared to participate (I was around six or seven years old), and I recall him picking me up from the play and taking me to an older lady—whom I did not know—and leaving me there. Confused and scared, I only recall bits and pieces, but the fear was palpable. Years after that trauma, he came to visit me once in a while in an awkward effort to either relieve himself of guilt or add meaning to his life. I was never proud to have him as a father and was more fearful than respectful. After leaving Detroit at the age of twelve, I only saw him once in my life. I would have dreams (more like nightmares) in my adolescence after moving to Atlanta that he found my mom and me. In my early twenties, I returned to Detroit to see my sister, who stayed in the city and was eight years older than me. She had, by this time, started her own family. She asked if I wanted to see my dad, and I begrudgingly agreed. We went to the neighborhood that he lived in and asked around the local store. My father’s nickname was Radio because everyone knew him for working at the first Black radio station in Detroit (at least that is the story I was told). As we went to a few stores in the vicinity (we did not have his address.), asking where to find him, more than one person told me that I looked like him. That was the first time I had heard that from anyone outside my family. When we found him, I was in a bit of shock. This man, who I viewed as terrifying for the majority of my life and who I feared would find me, was small. Really small. Much smaller than me. He had suffered a stroke, and half his body was limp and paralyzed. My sister joked with him about how big I was. We sat in the dimly lit small room that he lived in and had small talk. He asked about my mom, and then he told me that he wanted to see me, but my aunts would not