Making a Way

Marilyn Robinson

Description

Making a Way traces the life of Ulysses Byas from childhood through his tenure as the first black superintendent of the Macon County (Alabama) Schools, as told to coauthor Marilyn Robinson. This biography relies on extensive interviews that Dr. Robinson conducted with Dr. Byas, as well as an examination of his collection of documents.Dr. Byas unique experiences and skills informed the strategies he used to attack the fiscal deficit, the physical plant deterioration, and the educational performance deficiencies he found as superintendent of the Macon County Schools. His professional life was dedicated to using creative approaches to addressing problems brought about by segregation and the policies of separate but equal schooling. Ultimately, Dr. Byas faced a dilemma over whether or not to confront Gov. George Wallaces political machine and its discriminatory policies governing the licensure of the Alabama Educational Television network. Only time would tell whether his testimony would have dire results for him and the school system, or whether it could successfully overcome the racist programming endemic in the South.In Making a Way, Dr. Robinson considers the impact of Dr. Byass decision as she examines the inspiring story of a courageous and creative leader.

Sujets

• Philosophie et théologie
• USA
• Memoir
• États-Unis

Informations

• Publié par: Inspiring Voices
• Date de parution: 24 décembre 2013
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781462407903
• Langue: English

Extrait

Making a Way
___________
 
Ulysses Byas,
First Black School Superintendent in the Southeast, and His Fight for Educational Reform
 
 
by
 
 
Marilyn Robinson
 
 
 


 
Copyright © 2013 Marilyn Robinson.
 
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
 
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ISBN: 978-1-4624-0791-0 (sc)
ISBN: 978-1-4624-0790-3 (e)
 
Library of Congress Control Number: 2013920840
 
 
Inspiring Voices rev. date: 12/16/2013

Contents
List of Illustrations  
Preface
Acknowledgments
 
INTRODUCTION: Tuskegee before 1970
CHAPTER 1 : Early Life
CHAPTER 2 : First Things First
CHAPTER 3 : Buildings for Students
CHAPTER 4 : Student Achievement and Curriculum Changes
CHAPTER 5 : I Riled Wallace
CHAPTER 6 : Off to New York
CHAPTER 7 : Colleagues
EPILOGUE : Byas and Macon County Schools after 1976
 
Notes
Bibliography
Appendix

List of Illustrations  
Map of Macon County, Alabama
Macon County Board of Education
Addition to D. C. Wolfe High School
Alabama Educational Television Pamphlet
Marilyn Pajot Presenting Scrapbook to Dr. Byas
Byas Family
JoAnn Wright
Ulysses Byas Elementary School (New York)

 
To my husband, Paul Robinson Jr.
 
And to Ulysses Byas’s wife, Annamozel Byas.

 
Preface
Dr. Byas has been my mentor and friend since 1968. Our paths first crossed when I took a job with the Georgia Teachers and Education Association (GTEA). At that time, two teachers associations still existed in Georgia: the Georgia Education Association and the GTEA, which was started by black educators at a time when they were excluded from the Georgia Education Association (GEA). I was a white teacher looking for work in Atlanta after two years of classroom teaching, when I met Dr. Horace Tate, the executive director of the GTEA. After conversing awhile, he offered me the position of director of research and publications at GTEA. I was young, white, naïve, and idealistic. Green as grass. Ulysses Byas was also a new employee at GTEA, and he was a black, middle-aged, experienced school administrator who was “seasoned” in the ways of segregation politics. He became my colleague, mentor, and f riend.
Over the next two years, we worked together on various projects, including the coauthoring of magazine articles about educational issues facing black teachers and the association. In 1970, the GTEA and GEA merged, becoming the Georgia Association of Educators. Mr. Byas left shortly after the merger to accept the position of superintendent of schools in Macon County, Alabama—Tuskegee is the county seat—and I left to work with the nascent Atlanta Street Academy as a teacher and college prep advisor. Three years later, with the status of the Street Academy in jeopardy, I went to Macon County, Alabama, and applied for work with my former mentor. There I worked with three federal projects, assisted with Mr. Byas’s research for his doctoral dissertation, and resumed our friendship. In 1977, we again went in different directions, with him moving to a superintendency in Long Island, New York, and me getting married and becoming a teacher in Columbus, Ge orgia.
Years later, when Dr. Byas retired, he and his wife moved back to his first hometown, Macon, Georgia, and we embarked on this project soon after. Beginning in 2002, Dr. Byas and I recorded several interviews in which he reviewed his years in Tuskegee, how he arrived there, what he found, what happened, and why he ultimately left. Having been there for the last three years of his tenure, I was aware of some of this story but had never known all of the details. In fact, the real reasons behind his decision to leave Tuskegee were not known to anyone until many years later. The story is rather dramatic and is detailed in chap ter 5.
Dr. Byas’s tenure at Macon County Schools, 1970–1976, was critical to the health of that school system. The issues he tackled were manifold and tricky. Some he attacked directly, but many required other tactics. The white students had exited the system to attend the new “segregation academy” supported and encouraged by the George C. Wallace government. Many of these students had family members still working with the public schools. Supplies and materials purchased with public funds were disappearing, and it was strongly suspected that they were being siphoned to the private school. Rather than attack this problem “head on,” Byas started instituting badly needed systems of accountability: systems that were fiscally wise as well as politically wise. By this flanking tactic, the problem of disappearing supplies was drastically curtailed. In the light of current practice, Byas’s policies and innovations may seem obvious, but at that time and in that place, these policies instituted large and small changes, which many people supported and applauded. No doubt, others felt the sting of losing their hold on practices and powers that they had enjoyed for years.
Another tactic that Byas used to the advantage of the school system was his penchant for networking. Byas gained many admirers inside and outside the educational establishment. Some of these people were vital links to the US Department of Education and assisted in getting grants for Macon County. As he describes it, the first few years in Tuskegee were also years of strong support from the Alabama Department of Education. Nevertheless, the Macon County School System was under scrutiny. Even the superintendent’s salary was limited by state restrictions. When the issue of the Alabama Educational Television Network came up, things took a decided turn. This story is still only dimly understood, but the shadowy influence of opposition and oppression became more visible. With auditors in perpetual attendance and with women picketing the administration offices day after day, the employees were aware that something strange was happening. However, we did not know why this was so. Not until Dr. Byas told his story to a group of supporters in the 1990s did anyone know the context of this opposition and his decision to leave Macon County without a fight.
Dr. Byas brought all the necessary skills and attitudes to his role as superintendent. How many others would have known how to examine a school as a carpenter would? How many would have crawled under the building as he did at the Prairie Farms School to observe the termite damage? How many people had the ability to also create accountability systems and to work with his opponents without either bullying or caving in? How many could come up with a strategy to test the honesty and loyalty of employees without confrontation? How many would have had the spiritual guidance and strength to speak out in spite of knowing his job could be jeopardized? How many could hold their own counsel for more than twenty years? Who would be so concerned about the welfare of a couple who had deceived him thirty years ago that he would withhold their names to this day? How many black people could accept and work with white people, knowing that many white people were racists and unwilling to c hange?
Dr. Byas possessed all these abilities and more. That is why I admire him as one of the greatest mentors in my life.
NOTE: Dr. Byas died in 2012.

 
Acknowledgments
There comes a point at which you look around and realize that a long project is about to come to fruition. This point in the process of writing this book has finally dawned for me. Wow! This book is actually going to be completed! So now it is time to look backward to all the people who have made it possible to achieve this goal. How can I remember everyone? How can I put into words the meaning of their support? Each author works diligently to thank his or her helpers. So I too have come to this point. I confess to being somewhat overwhelmed at the enormity of the task.
First and foremost, this book was the conception of Dr. Byas, and it represents a large piece of his life. I have tried to faithfully record his words and ideas as expressed in numerous interviews as well as our years of friendship. It is my hope that those who know him will recognize his spirit here. Thank you for entrusting your story to me.
Secondly, my husband, Paul, and Dr. Byas’s wife, Annamozel, have been loyal supporters and made our lengthy interviews possible with their quiet presence. In addition to several trips to Macon, Paul accompanied me to Tuskegee and Montgomery, where I interviewed three former school board me mbers.
Thanks, of course, to those board members—Dr. Ellis Hall, Dr. J. H. M. Henderson, and Mrs. Consuello Harper—for their willingness to share their time and their memories wi th me.
My sister, Jean Pajot Forres