Brown v. the Board of Schooling was meant to finish segregation in faculties throughout the nation— however what occurs when it’s a Black educator who brings again segregation for a surprising cause? Within the case of 1 Atlanta public faculty (APS), claims of segregation led to a surprising lawsuit from one dad or mum.
Kila Posey and her husband will not be solely dad and mom to 2 APS college students, however in addition they work as educators within the Atlanta space. So think about their shock when the principal at their daughter’s elementary faculty, Sharyn Briscoe, revealed the surprising technique of how Black college students had been taught on the predominately white faculty.
“I discovered straight from the principal,” Posey informed CNN in a 2021 interview. Her husband, Jason, labored at Mary Lin Elementary, the place their daughter was enrolled. The college had a recognized coverage of permitting employees to request homeroom academics yearly, in order that’s precisely what Posey did. “I made the choice for our college students, and she or he [Briscoe] known as me and requested if I wished a unique instructor.”
After telling Briscoe she was assured about her unique homeroom choice, the principal reportedly responded, “If she stays along with her, she received’t have anybody that appears like her within the classroom,” in accordance with Posey. Clearly confused by the assertion, the mom requested what occurred to all of the Black college students at Mary Lin, and it was the principal’s response that unknowingly despatched shockwaves all through town.
“‘That’s not the Black class,’” the principal allegedly informed Posey earlier than explaining that solely two out of the six second grade lecture rooms had been designated for Black college students. “It’s disheartening to know that in 2020— after George Floyd, Breonna Taylor— we’ve accomplished all of the marching, and I’m right here in 2021 having this dialog with somebody that appears identical to me,” Posey continued to CNN.
This led to her submitting a discrimination lawsuit in 2021 in opposition to the principal and the district. The U.S. Division of Schooling even performed a federal investigation into the racial discrimination declare, in accordance with 11 Alive Information. No disciplinary actions had been taken after the investigation, however that’s not the place the story ends.
In 2023, Posey filed one other lawsuit in opposition to the college district after a number of faculties cancelled their contracts along with her firm, which gives after faculty providers throughout the APS district. She claimed this was accomplished in retaliation to her first lawsuit. 11 Alive reported Posey by no means obtained an actual cause for why her contracts had ended, even after she investigated the matter on her personal.
Two years after that, the college district lastly reached a settlement settlement with the mom. The Atlanta Board of Schooling accepted a $500,000 payout on Monday (Could 5) based mostly on Posey’s second lawsuit, in accordance with the Atlanta Journal Structure. “We’re glad to only form of transfer on with our life,” Posey, now 46, informed the AJC. “This has consumed us for fairly a while.”