Boazman Planning Saturday Schools For APS Youth

Taking his “I am APS” campaign to the next level, WAOK 1380-AM radio personality and former Atlanta City Councilman Derrick Boazman is leading a campaign to start a Saturday school program for Atlanta Public School students affect by the system's cheating scandal. 

A state investigators' report found evidence of 44 Atlanta Public Schools of cheating on the 2009 Criterion Reference Competency Test (CRCT) standardized test. In early July, Gov. Nathan Deal officially issued the report, which implicated 178 educators—including 38 principals— in the system in the scandal.

Since then, media reports, the Atlanta School Board and community activists have weighed in on the cheating by educators and the affect it has had on Atlanta's public school children. Whatever the number of students who cannot pass the CRCT, Boazman said he believes the status of some schools is rooted in a fundamental issue: “We have too many who can't [even] read,” he explained. 

“These are serious times we are living in and serious times require serious commitment.” Boazman said Saturday to a crowd of parents, grandparents, retired educators, and concerned citizens who gathered in the sanctuary of St. Peter Baptist Church, 1558 Venetian Dr., to hear his plan to make our schools and students successful. 

Boazman proposes opening several Saturday schools in churches and community centers across Atlanta to help students deficient in math and reading.  Saturday schools will not be limited to Atlanta Public Schools students.  “We don't care where you came from . . . Everybody can benefit,” Boazman said, addressing those who came to the meeting from Gwinnett and Clayton Counties.

The plan does not require an elaborate strategy, but it does require commitment and effort from the entire community. 

Boazman is asking establishments with meeting space – particularly churches – to donate space for the weekend sessions.  Current teachers, retired teachers, or anyone with tutoring experience can allot a few hours to help struggling students.

Those who cannot fit Saturday school into their schedule are still needed. People are needed to donate supplies and provide food, for example. “Everybody can do something,” Boazman insisted. 

Experts say Saturday schools alone, though, will not create thriving students. 

Parental involvement is equally as important stressed Dr. Gerry White, a Clark Atlanta University sociologist and a speaker at the meeting.

Dr. White said parents have the ability to create a private school educational environment within public schools by simply being involved in the school and knowing every facet of their child's education. 

Dr. White provided a checklist to determine if you are an uninvolved parent:

1. You are shocked when you see your child's report card

2. Your child has been in in-school suspension and you know nothing about it

With no time to waste, Boazman said he is rapidly organizing. The goal, Boazman said, is to have at least four Saturday schools established within the next 30 days.

A second planning and training session for the classes is set for 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sat., July 30, at St. Peter.

Said Boazman: “What's at stake is too valuable for us to lose."