An Equity Champion Seeks Common Ground
January 23, 2024
- Author
- Mary Elizabeth DeAngelis
Timisha Barnes-Jones ’92 believes polarization often leads to dereliction.
Partisan differences—about funding and policy have roiled schools across the country. She says such fights—over budgets, curriculum, social issues, and power—obstruct America’s responsibility to provide a strong education for all children.
“We need to find some common ground. We can’t keep turning a blind eye to the inequities and underfunding in public education,” she says. “Equity is a benefit for everybody. They’re not ‘these kids and those kids’—they’re all of our children.”
She’s an assistant superintendent of Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools and specializes in leadership development and school transformation. It’s North Carolina’s fourth-largest school district and serves more than 53,000 pre-K–12 students.
She wishes more people saw the connection between poverty and educational needs.
Closing learning gaps can range from smaller class sizes to tutoring and mentorship programs. It can include partnerships with businesses and government and non-profit agencies to address housing, food, safety and health needs. She’s led such efforts and seen them work.
“For all students to succeed, we must get to the point that success and failure is not predictable by race, economic or other social factors. It’s about providing what every child needs to succeed.”
“We need to find some common ground. We can’t keep turning a blind eye to the inequities and underfunding in public education,” Barnes-Jones says. “Equity is a benefit for everybody. They’re not ‘these kids and those kids’—they’re all of our children.”
Musician, Teacher, Leader
She originally planned a music career, but teaching won. Her journey with Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools took her from elementary school music teacher to high school chorus teacher, then principal. She obtained master’s and doctoral degrees. She served as Director of School Improvement in Savannah, Georgia, before moving back to North Carolina.
She developed a reputation as a turn-around specialist. Under her leadership, West Charlotte High School graduation rates rose by 54% in four years. She was CMS’s 2018 Principal of the Year, and in 2019, North Carolina’s Principal of the Year for the southwest region.
She recalls this story as a lesson for today’s climate:
Some white students from Ardrey Kell High School in south Charlotte taunted a Black middle-schooler with racist language at a football game. Amid the anger and extensive media coverage, some students from Ardrey Kell and West Charlotte banded together.
They met at West Charlotte, where they talked about perceptions and prejudices kids from different sides of town had about each other. They named their collaboration “West Kell.”
“And something terrible became something beautiful,” Barnes-Jones says. “Even though their circumstances were different, they got to see how much they have in common. They grew to care about each other.
“As adults, we need to follow their example. No one is immune to the polarization going on today. How do we bring all our chairs up to the table and truly make a difference?”
Return to And Education for All: These public-school educators teach, lead, counsel, nurture, care.
This article was originally published in the Fall/Winter 2023 print issue of the 51 Journal Magazine; for more, please see the 51 Journal section of our website.
