Understanding Defining Moments in History
Montgomery, Alabama | September 17-19, 2024
Fall Symposium of the National Superintendents Roundtable
As a proud member of the National Superintendents Roundtable (NSR), I looked forward to our fall conference in Montgomery, Alabama. With a mission focused on “Leadership for Just and Humane Schools,” the NSR, alongside the Schlecty Superintendent Leadership Network, brings together 85 superintendents committed to advocating for the future of public education. This conference emphasized the significance of civics education—an essential component for understanding our nation’s complex history.
Our host, Dr. Melvin Brown, Superintendent of Montgomery Public Schools, welcomed us to a city steeped in both the legacy of the Confederacy and the Civil Rights Movement. Montgomery, a city of contrasts, was the perfect setting for
Panel of Members – Discussion
exploring the contradictions and realities of American history. Here, in a school system serving 26,000 students, we confronted the unresolved tension between the 1954 Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education and the lived experience of desegregation, which for Montgomery, only began in earnest during the 1970s. While the law declared the end of segregation, reality played out differently, and the deep divides of the past remained unresolved for decades.
As a lifelong advocate for student voice, choice, and empowerment, I found myself reflecting deeply on the impact of these historical legacies on today’s education system. Our schools are, and must always be, for students—no exceptions.
Three Profound Sites of American History
The heart of this symposium was our visit to three deeply impactful historical monuments:
The Freedom Monument Sculpture Park (April 2024)
The Legacy Museum: From Enslavement to Mass Incarceration (2018)
The National Memorial for Peace and Justice (2018)
These landmarks tell an unfiltered story of America, starting from pre-Columbian history through the African and African American experiences. They challenged us to reckon with the harsh truths of slavery, systemic racism, and the ongoing consequences of mass incarceration.
The Equal Justice Initiative (EJI), founded by Bryan Stevenson, operates the Legacy Museum and National Memorial for Peace and Justice. EJI has been at the forefront of documenting the intersection of racial injustice, from slavery to modern-day inequalities. Learning about their work and walking through these spaces was emotionally overwhelming yet essential.
At the Freedom Monument Sculpture Park, we were immediately faced with the brutality of colonialism. I found myself reflecting on the devastating impact European exploration and colonization had on both Indigenous and African peoples. Walking through this park, located by the serene Alabama River, was a stark contrast to the brutality it documented. I realized how disconnected my previous understanding of history had been, shaped largely by sanitized textbooks that glossed over the horrors of our past.
The Domestic Slave Trade and Unseen Realities
One of the most startling realizations during this trip was learning about the domestic slave trade that thrived in the United States after the transatlantic trade was abolished in 1808. I hadn’t fully grasped how the demand for enslaved labor
Depiction of bondage and suffering
persisted, especially in building the Southern railway systems. As a history teacher, I taught about slavery—but never truly taught about it. Now, I find myself asking: What is my obligation as an educator to teach authentic and real history?
Equally disturbing was the realization of how deeply Northern banks profited from the Southern economy, showing that slavery wasn’t just a Southern institution—it was an American one.
Emancipation and Its Complex Legacy
The common narrative we often hear is that the Emancipation Proclamation freed the enslaved. Yet, in reality, the Proclamation only declared freedom for those enslaved in Confederate states still rebelling against the Union in 1863. It took the 13th Amendment, ratified in December 1865, to legally end slavery in the United States. The legacy of that struggle, from Reconstruction to Jim Crow, has left a profound and lasting impact on our nation’s journey toward racial equality.
The visit to the National Memorial for Peace and Justice was perhaps the most sobering of all. Walking through the steel monuments bearing the names of over 4,400 lynching victims, I was confronted with a history I hadn’t fully absorbed before. The legacy of racial violence and terror extends far beyond what many of us learned in school, and the psychological damage it inflicted is immeasurable.
Victims of lynching from one county
Personal Reflection and Call to Action
This journey wasn’t just an opportunity to learn—it was a moral reckoning. I’ve often said that students have only one chance to experience the grade they’re in, and it’s our duty to make their time with us meaningful. Now that I’ve confronted these truths, I have to ask myself: What will I do with this knowledge?
What will I do?
What will you do?
More importantly, what will **we** do, now that we know?
As educators and leaders, it’s our responsibility to empower our students, activate their voices, and offer them choice, agency, and engagement. If we’re to inspire, innovate, and engage, we must do so with a full understanding of where we’ve been as a nation and where we need to go.
I encourage all who read this to visit Montgomery, Alabama.
Our nation’s future depends on it.
Quote on the monument of remembrance
Memorial to victim of lynching – part of community awareness project
What’s all the fuss about AI?
presentation highlights the potential benefits of AI for both students and teachers, such as personalized learning, intelligent tutoring, and automation of administrative tasks, while acknowledging the limitations of AI, including bias in training data, limited knowledge bases, and proneness to hallucinations. The presentation advocates for an innovative mindset, urging educators to experiment with new AI tools and adapt their practices to the post-AI world. Finally, the presentation emphasizes the need for ethical guidelines and data privacy to ensure responsible and beneficial integration of AI in education.
Link to the Blog Post, 
development initiatives. The document outlines the key objectives, implementation strategy, expected outcomes, and policy considerations surrounding the use of AI in education. The district intends to pilot a generative AI program called “Magic School AI” to enhance teacher effectiveness and student engagement, aiming to improve student learning, personalize learning experiences, and streamline administrative tasks. The document also addresses potential risks and challenges associated with AI implementation, emphasizing the need for responsible, ethical, and transparent use of AI technologies. The district plans to monitor the pilot program’s success through data analysis, student and staff feedback, and alignment with existing district policies and national guidelines. Ultimately, the document proposes a forward-looking approach to harnessing the potential of generative AI to foster innovation and enhance educational outcomes within the school district.
4. Challenges and Concerns:
are” – “it’s the impact of your experiences”. Our culture is not just tied to the color of our skin or our native language (Credit to Dr. Sonya Whitaker). We bring our culturally “baggage” each and every day – raise consciousness – know, learn, understand, and do something.
Using that “GPT “bot”” I said, please provide an executive summary of the Unfinished Teacher for a blog post I am writing – please highlight the main points. Here is what the large language model produced …
politics of the time, and much more! In order for us to best contemplate What We Learned and where we go from here, it’s incumbent upon us leaders to learn from the sources at the time! Chris did not disappoint; just like Jim Harvey, his insights were exceptional. Complemented by Audrey Amrein-Beardsley’s recap of history over the past few decades, the learning and convening at the National Superintendents Roundtable was nothing less than exceptional.
As I shared in the first post on this topic, we convened in Los Angeles to remember A Nation at Risk, look at lessons learned, and, more importantly, look forward to the future – What Have We Learned? was the overarching question!
