Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Take a walk with Bianca through the fire, through the faith. We walk with freedom, we walk with fulfillment, we walk with truth, we walk with purpose and we walk with seats.
Good morning, Happy Monday and welcome to the Park Walk. You know what time it is?
Listen, it's been a minute but I'm back moving my body. I had an amazing workout and now I'm just doing this podcast walk just to have a brief conversation with you before I start Brand Day.
So Brand Day is a day on Monday where I prioritize the things that I need to get done as my work consists of helping other people get the things that they need to get done. So Monday is my day and I spend it how I choose and I'm thankful for the flexibility to create the life where I can have a four day work week, take the day to myself and to be able to still get things done.
So with that being stated, I have so much to uplift and tell you when I tell you there is so much that's going on in the state of education that we really need to be intentional with.
I've been posting a lot of receipt alerts. I hope that you've been paying attention and following along and I appreciate those new equalizers and digital guardians that have subscribed to my Patreon recently. Thank you. And for the OGS that's been in there, thank you. Thank you for your support.
It continues to help me as I want to amplify the things that are important and in addition it gives me the opportunity to invest in new equipment and tools that make this work possible.
So again I just say thank you to the equalizers, thank you to the digital guardians. For those of you that are in the free version, I ask that you subscribe. You can subscribe less than $2 a month. It's literally a dollar a month or the $5 here. Your support is greatly appreciated as I'm on this journey demanding accountability, transparency and int, particularly in our education systems.
Speaking of our education systems, there's been a lot of news recently as it relates to predators and folks who possess firearms that are being caught up in one school district in particular.
The superintendent did a press release and basically stated that enough is enough. I want to roll the clip because I want you to hear what the superintendent in Duval county has to say about the recent news. And then there's more I need to tell you. So let's go ahead and roll the clip.
[00:02:58] Speaker B: To our team Duvall employees and staff, this is a very difficult message, but one that must be said and heard loud and clear.
Enough is enough.
We have one of society's highest responsibilities and that is to protect and care for children.
At the same time, I want to recognize the vast majority of you and all of our employees who do the right thing and make a positive difference in the lives of children every single day.
Our children deserve to feel safe and to be surrounded by trusted adults who prioritize their learning, safety and well being.
We must, as employees, uphold our ethical standards and our profession by exceeding the standards established by our board policies, our extensive and required trainings, the state expectations and the law.
As superintendent, I cannot tolerate behavior that puts a student's safety or well being at risk.
Any violation is one too many, and in the recent weeks, we have seen far too many.
These incidents have been painful and hurtful for our children, staff, families and schools.
I want you to know I share your frustration for some of you, your anger, and most of us, our heartbreak.
These incidents do not define Team Duvall.
They do not erase the incredible hard work being done by thousands of dedicated employees.
But I must be absolutely clear.
There is no tolerance for any act that harms a child or puts a child at risk.
When misconduct occurs, we will take action.
That includes immediate removal from the classroom, thorough investigations, and individual discipline when warranted. It will also mean pursuing prosecution to the fullest extent of the law.
If you suspect misconduct or have concerns about a child's safety, you cannot and will not be silent.
Do not wait.
Report that immediately.
Speaking up when a child's safety is at stake is not optional.
It's your responsibility and your legal obligation.
We cannot do this alone.
Every employee has a role to play in protecting our children.
Remember who we serve, remember the responsibility entrusted to us, and remember above all what is expected of each of us as we take care of our community's most precious resource.
Speak up, follow the law, uphold our standards and do everything in your power to keep our children safe.
Thank you for your attention to this serious matter.
[00:06:09] Speaker A: Please understand that Duval County Public Schools is not the only school district where they have been featured in several headlines this month as it relates to educator misconduct. So I'm here to uplift and tell you that it's a lot going on in our education system and some of our really good educators are walking away and finding new ways to supplement their income because it is so much that's happening. I shared a video on my Facebook page page doing a reaction to a parent that basically states that she doesn't understand why her child continues to get kicked off the bus, and he refused to go to ISS and doesn't understand why the teacher continues to call her when it is the school's job and the teacher's job to provide care for the child.
And there's so many videos that are circulating like that on social media where parents are venting about the education system, about our teachers. And I've asked the question, and I still have yet to receive an answer.
What is the solution? Blaming teachers is not doing anything. Blaming parents solely isn't doing anything. And we can't excuse the children's behavior. So with that, who do we hold accountable? How do we fix it? Because I'm telling you, it's progressively getting worse. You have children that are bringing firearms and weapons to.
You have children that are bringing drugs to school. You have children that are doing a whole bunch of things that they have no business doing, but because they've been allowed to get away with it and. Or the lack of supervision that exists in our educational spaces. It is so much going on. A teacher can't control everything that happens in the classroom. And so it's very unfortunate that we have parents that will take their voices to social media to not condemn their child's behavior, but to condemn the teacher that's trying to do something about it when there's other children in the class that want to learn but can't because their child doesn't know how to respond appropriately in the classroom. And I say apple tree. So I say all that to say that I don't know what the solution is.
But as far as teaching for the culture is concerned, we're going to continue to amplify and ask those critical questions and demand accountability, transparency, and integrity. That's the role that we are playing in and that's how we're serving. I'm wondering what role you gonna play, because being a keyboard warrior on the Internet does nothing. Okay. I have worked across the country and internationally helping students.
One of our students with Period zero was just featured in the news. He came to Teen Networking night with a business idea, and now he has a whole business selling thousands of cookies. And Jess was featured in the media for his custom cookies. I'm here to tell you our children matter.
They have great ideas.
They want to create things, they want to make things, they want to sell things, they want to publish things. Our children are the future. And we have some complicit gatekeepers. Complicit gatekeepers that are out here in the community, in the community saying that they advocating and they doing this and that and nothing. So y' all remember the Karen Savage situation with the baby doll and the parents spoke out.
So this entire time I've been keeping up with this because I wanted to know if the district was gonna submit her license for review. Because I'm telling you, they've submitted educators licenses for less. So that's the only reason why I'm pushing this issue like this. On top of that, you have organizations, okay, that will get on the news because of how viral the situation is and say that they're getting ready to do this, that and the third, and the parent hasn't even heard from them, haven't had no transparent communication, no updates, nothing, Nothing.
You go on the news and you talk about you gonna fight for our kids and la la la whoop de whoop. People like, oh my gosh, thank you so much for fighting. And then after the headlines and after the cameras go away, crickets, silence. That's another thing I'm telling you, some of y' all get up here on this Internet and y' all wanna amplify these things with no follow through. How you gonna say you advocating for a school district and ain't nothing in writing. You need to have documentation, you need to have paper trail people. I receipts don't. So I don't understand why some people still be out here applauding the same individuals that technically should be nowhere near our schools because of their background.
Uh huh.
Church mouse quiet.
And then, okay, a broken clock is right twice a day. So advocate, do that right? But then to say you doing all that and there's no paper trail, no follow through as it relates to it, what are you really doing other than raising hell on the Internet. At the end of the day, the community is going to allow what it has been allowing.
And there are some people that have been in position to claim that they are advocating for justice for our students and will go to the media and will sit they ass right there to talk about all the things that they doing and be church mouse quiet when the cameras and the headlines are gone. Our children deserve more than that. They deserve more than people that want to get in front of situations so that they could be featured in the news.
Our children deserve better. Where we have people that are actually intentional with the follow through to make sure that things get done and not just doing things in the moment because it's being talked about. At the end of the day, our children deserve better.
And I hope and pray that people demand better for the people that they call a community leader. Because there are several community leaders in several communities that are very complicit that will do things just for the headlines or likes and views or for the affirmation that they doing something so that they could feel validated.
And meanwhile, our children are struggling and they need our help and they need our support. So I'm gonna stay in my lane and stay in my role and do what I do.
And I hope that y' all find y' all lane and y' all do what y' all do. Cause it's gonna take all hands on deck. It's going to take everybody making an intentional decision that our children deserve better and making intentional steps on how you could better help the situation. Because I've asked for the solution time and time again and there's no solution to be found, apparently.
So my question is, what do we do about what's happening in the state of education, mind you, cutting more funding and now we're politicizing more books that our children ain't reading, looking at the literacy rate. So again, I have questions. The last thing I'm going to end you with is these cell phones. Like I've been saying for the past couple of years now, you need to check these cell phones. You need to know what your children have access to if you paying for the device. You need to know exactly what's in it, who they talking to, what apps they own, how they interacting with people. Because I am telling you, some parents are so in the dark as it relates to what their children are doing on their phones. And I'm telling you, if you wouldn't allow a stranger to just knock on the door and to talk to your child, then let's have energy as it relates to their cell phone, too.
Don't let anybody just knock on your child's door in a phone and they talk to anybody without no oversight. Okay? But like I said, if you wouldn't allow a stranger to just pull up at your house to talk to your child, let's also keep the same energy as it relates to their cell phones. Because there are so many predators out here. And I'm telling you, these headlines I was just talking about earlier with some of these school districts, you have some educators that are having communications with our children off designated spaces.
And please understand, it's not just educators. There's predators everywhere.
Okay?
But they are using these devices to talk to your children, to groom your children, to influence your children to all the things. I need you to be aware of what your children are doing. I need you to be aware and to hold your child accountable.
Please.
Because our children deserve better. Okay. All right, I gotta go. Until next time.
[00:15:04] Speaker B: Peace.
[00:15:07] Speaker A: Speak up. Show up.
A lace up. Speak up. Show up.
