Message from our President
David Mitchell
Founder, President & CEO
Better Outcomes for OUR Kids
Dear Friends and Supporters,
Many of you know my involvement in public education, as a public school parent, political operative and community activist. In 2014, I took this passion a step further and begin researching how I could do more for our public schools and communities as an advocate for better outcomes for our kids. As a native Atlantan, and a graduate of the Atlanta Public Schools, I saw a clear gap in the African American Community as it relates to understanding SCHOOL CHOICE.
In 2012, two million Georgians voted to amend the state’s constitution to expand parental choice. The overall sentiment was failing schools would not be accepted going forward, and the concept of School Choice needed to be “front and center” in the overall discussion around public educational policy. It is also important to know, that African American households overwhelmingly supported the school choice amendment, which many believed created a mandate for change. Unfortunately, following this vote for CHOICE by Georgia families, there has been very little movement to start an honest dialogue around publicly funded schools. I also saw no call to action from our religious community, nor any discussion or ideas coming out of our historically Black Colleges.
As the son and grandson of public school teachers, I am the living example that well-educated African American children are the pillars of a stronger African American family, culture and community in modern America. It is this belief that led me to form Better Outcomes for Our Kids (BOOK). BOOK plans to start an honest dialogue around our publically funded schools, and will drive initiatives to increase Access, Awareness and Accountability for high quality, publicly funded educational options for African American children.
Our overall focus will be on raising awareness around the need for high-performing schools in African American communities, and the need to expand and increase the awareness of educational options and school choice. As an organization led by African Americans, we plan to become a commanding voice in the discussion around the performance of publicly funded schools in metro Atlanta, and their impact specifically on African American children.
We plan to work with both “Traditional” and “Charter” schools to increase parent and community involvement in their local schools. BOOK will be built from the “ground up” by individuals who have “deep roots” in the African American community in Atlanta and greater Georgia. BOOK’s leadership team, board of directors and advocates represent individuals from every socio-economic sub-group in our community. Our goal will be to leverage their credibility to make strong statements and stances on educational outcomes and school choice in the African American community. We also see our role as advocates and surrogates for parents and communities who are looking to create school choice opportunities by leveraging the public dollars spent on educating their children.