Walk into any school in our district and you’ll find bright, curious students eager to learn, alongside teachers doing everything they can to support them. But just beneath the surface, there are challenges we don’t always talk about. Not every student starts with the same opportunities.
Some students are held back by the cost of an AP exam or miss out on early intervention when it’s needed most. Others struggle to access special education services or can’t participate in after-school activities because of transportation or cost. These barriers aren’t always visible, but they have a real impact. When left unaddressed, they limit potential and deepen inequality.
Educational equity isn’t just a nice idea, it’s about fairness, dignity, and access. It’s about whether every student has what they need to succeed, not just equal resources, but the right supports at the right time. A student’s background, ZIP code, or learning differences should never determine the quality of their education.
Across the country, schools are grappling with how to ensure success isn’t a matter of luck. In Thompson School District, we have both the opportunity and the responsibility to lead that effort.
That begins with honesty about where inequities exist and a commitment to closing them. It means using data, listening to families, and acting on the belief that every child has potential. Whether we’re talking about advanced coursework, special education, early learning, or extracurricular access, we have to ask: Are we truly serving every student?
Below are five critical areas where our district can make progress—and the steps we must take to ensure all students in Thompson have the opportunity to thrive.
1. Expanding Access to Advanced Coursework
Research shows that Black, Indigenous, and other students of color are significantly underrepresented in AP classes—even in schools that offer them. A detailed report from The Education Trust and this analysis by the Center for American Progress outline how structural barriers—like prerequisite policies or biased teacher recommendations—often exclude these students from enrollment and success.
Solutions:
Remove biased gatekeeping by eliminating prerequisites and restrictive teacher recommendations.
Align middle school curricula with advanced coursework to build readiness early.
Waive AP exam fees for students with financial need.
Train educators to support students from underrepresented backgrounds with targeted academic and emotional supports.
2. Ensuring Inclusive Special Education Services
Students with disabilities deserve access to inclusive general education settings, not segregation. Research from the National Center for Education Evaluation confirms that inclusive models support better academic and social outcomes for all learners. However, students of color remain disproportionately over or under-identified for special education services—a pattern outlined in this overview of disproportionality in special education.
Solutions:
Implement Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) for early, non-punitive intervention.
Provide professional development in culturally responsive pedagogy.
Monitor referrals and identification rates for bias and adjust practices accordingly.
Promote Universal Design for Learning (UDL) to make classrooms more accessible to diverse learners.
3. Closing Socioeconomic Gaps at the Starting Gate
Socioeconomic disparities begin early and compound over time. A landmark study from the Economic Policy Institute shows that children from low-income families enter kindergarten already behind in literacy, math, and social-emotional readiness. And the gap has remained stubbornly persistent for decades.
Solutions:
Expand access to high-quality early childhood education.
Offer extended-day and after-school programs in high-need schools—something the National Center on Time & Learning has shown improves outcomes for students facing opportunity gaps.
4. Democratizing Extracurricular Participation
Extracurriculars—arts, athletics, clubs—are often where students build confidence, community, and purpose. But many families face barriers like participation fees, transportation challenges, and limited availability.
Solutions:
Implement sliding-scale or scholarship options for extracurricular activities.
Provide after-hours transportation.
Ensure outreach and information are available in multiple languages and accessible formats.
Track participation data to identify and address disparities in access.
5. Boosting Transparency & Reporting
We can’t close gaps we don’t measure. The National Academies of Sciences recommend publishing equity indicators like access to advanced coursework, per-pupil funding, teacher quality, and disciplinary outcomes to better identify and address disparities.
Solutions:
Publish disaggregated data by race, income, disability, and geography on access to programs and services.
Set measurable goals for equity, for example, ensuring AP enrollment reflects district demographics.
Host regular community forums and publish annual equity reports to maintain accountability.
Why This Matters in Thompson
Every child deserves not just equal opportunity, but equitable access to the supports that make learning possible. Equity isn’t about lowering standards—it’s about removing the structural barriers that prevent students from meeting them.
Parents, educators, and community leaders must work together—not just to identify disparities, but to dismantle the systems that cause them. That means embracing data, listening to lived experience, and implementing solutions grounded in evidence and empathy.
As your school board member, I commit to:
Expanding access to advanced and inclusive coursework
Ensuring fair identification and support in special education
Supporting early learning and extended learning opportunities
Opening extracurricular access to all students
Publishing transparent, equity-focused data
Setting and meeting measurable district equity goals
Educational equity is not a luxury—it’s a responsibility. Let’s meet it together.
