JMCSS parents meet to voice their concerns on the education system

JACKSON, Tenn. — Jackson-Madison County schools are back in session, and parents across the district are meeting to voice their concerns.

“As parents, we deeply care about our children, but also all the children in the community,” said parent Jenci Spradlin.

Thursday night, parents met at the First United Methodist Church for a round table discussion called “We Need to Talk.”

The meeting focused on ways to improve the learning environment for all students in the Jackson-Madison County School System.

“There’s just this shared desire, and maybe it translates to frustration for how can we help make sure every child succeeds,” Spradlin said.

Parents shared what they believe are good qualities of the current education system, such as teachers holding students to a higher standard and low turnover at high-performing schools.

“We’re moving in a positive direction, but there’s a lot more that we can do to improve on things,” said parent Sabrina Blue. “One idea is to have some type of way to give those teachers some assistance whether that be financially speaking with school supplies, or whether that just be more support within our community.”

Those attending say it is beneficial to listen to each other and understand different viewpoints.

“Bringing people together and looking people in the eye and seeing how we are the same no matter what part of town we live in or anything like that, the better we can all be,” Spradlin explained.

During the discussion, parents also said they would like to see less overcrowding in the classrooms, stricter disciplinary action, and more homework for students.

Organizers of this event say they hope to develop it into a district-wide PTA meeting.