The first time I learned about the “achievement & access gap” was during my transition from Lovejoy High School to Emory University in 2006. While sitting in my Freshman English class, I began to notice that other people had read books I hadn’t read. They knew stuff I didn’t know, and it took me longer to understand that it was because of my zip code. While I was at Emory, 45 minutes away, Clayton County Public Schools became Georgia’s first county to lose accreditation in over eight decades. My brother was a high school junior at the time. My unmet needs, my brother, local inequity, poor leadership, and the inequities I witnessed around the world made me angry. I wanted to learn more about where these gaps came from, and I wanted to help prevent them.

 

After Emory I moved to Miami and became a 4th grade teacher in Little Haiti. Thanks to the best teachers and village, our scholars won math bowls, essay contests, exceeded my expectations,  and defied society’s preconceived notions. Because of them, I don’t know what “impossible” is anymore. In fact, now I believe that those who say “it cannot be done” should not interrupt the ones doing it. Scholars have always been my proof.

 

After earning my MS in Education and Social Change from the University of Miami, I moved to New Orleans and served as a teacher, instructional coach, adjunct professor, and as a board member for a local charter school. Since returning home to Atlanta, I’ve built a bridge between my classroom work and my community work as an organizer, consultant, and servant leader. Those experiences, and an eventful State House campaign in 2016, have prepared me for today. I am excited about channeling my energy and transferable skills toward innovative outcomes and student-centered solutions.

 

We all deserve uninhibited access to the plans, resources, and opportunities for organized freedom. Families deserve to buy, work, play, & live in their neighborhoods.  And every child deserves an excellent education.

In Clayton County, we want…

• Student & family outcomes at the heart of every conversation

• To retain and recruit the best educators by increasing pay, perks, and creating a leadership pipeline

• Graduating scholars with personal & professional real-world, innovative, problem solving skills

• Strong formal & informal partnerships with students, families, teachers, administration, & community stakeholders

• Local students and families to have first dibs on the Southside’s economic boom, “Aerotropolis,” by getting a head start on the required skills through trade opportunities (aerotech, art & film, food & agriculture, engineering, technology, transportation & logistics)

• To improve, not move.
   

Please join The Committee to Elect Jasmine Bowles in support of our scholars, schools, educators, and families by choosing to invest in a campaign by, for, and about them.

 

With love, gratitude, and respect,

Jasmine Bowles