yes. every kid. foundation. is excited to announce the inaugural class of No More Lines Fellows. These fellows will bring their experience and voice to raise awareness about the injustice of families being barred from accessing public schools that work best for their children.
In the coming weeks, we will highlight each of our fellows on our blog. This second post is from Tennille Caulfield.
Just like most parents, I would do anything to help my child get a good education. I knew my son’s neighborhood elementary school wasn’t right for him. So nearly every day I would drive him across Prince George’s County, Maryland to a different school that was zoned to his father’s address—and then drive two more hours to my job in Virginia.
Through the rest of my son’s K-12 experience, it was a similar story. The local zoned school was never right for him. He went to traditional district schools, to a charter school, and to a magnet school. And without any help from the schools, I got him there, on time, every day. I usually handled it myself, but often had to resort to Ubers or taxis—which was a huge financial burden.
As challenging as it was, in some ways things worked out for my son. He is in college now, and thriving. But it could have easily turned out differently. What if my job was even further away? What if I had more children I had to bring to different schools? What if I couldn’t afford the Ubers or additional gas? What if my son hadn’t been accepted at the schools he wanted to attend?
That’s why I’m so proud to be a No More Lines fellow. If your local public school is the right choice for your child, that’s great. If it’s not, you should have access to other choices. But access isn’t just about being able to enroll your child. If families are responsible for transportation and other logistics, their choices may not be real choices at all—especially for single parents and families with multiple children.
I would take my son to the moon and back if I had to. But for something as important as his education, shouldn’t it be easier?
