Educational Disobedience

Unraveling the Notion of Educational Disobedience

n the realm of education, conformity has long been championed as the cornerstone of success: a system designed to mold young minds into compliant citizens, fitting neatly into predetermined societal roles. However, amidst the structured corridors of traditional learning, there exists a disruptive force—one that challenges the status quo, dares to question authority, and advocates for a different kind of education. This force is none other than “Educational Disobedience.”

It is true that a single spark can transform an entire landscape. I became that spark for education reform and change in my community as I dared to leverage homeschool laws to weave a safety net for my children, who were first left behind and later educationally excluded from traditional learning environments. I could not allow my children to fail. The educational safety net I wove to save them evolved into a bridge that now transforms over four hundred high school dropouts into high school graduates each year. Forty-six percent of the graduates from my homeschool cooperative not only enroll in technical and community colleges within three months of graduation, but they also complete their degree programs, with many students making the Dean’s List. In 2024, the neighborhood homeschool cooperative I built to educate my own children issued its one thousandth homeschool high school diploma.

Tiers Free Academy Homeschool Cooperative, a program under The Dr. Annise Mabry Foundation, is the only homeschool cooperative in Georgia that receives grant funding as a United Way Learning Loss Service Provider to serve seventy-eight rural, persistent poverty communities with some of the lowest graduation rates in Georgia. This achievement is significant because it enables me to collaborate with school districts, offering direct services to families and students who urgently need alternative educational programs but face financial barriers. This partnership is particularly vital because my student population defies the conventional image of homeschool students, encompassing diverse racial and socioeconomic backgrounds.

I had never realized that entire families could go through generations without ever experiencing the sense of fulfillment that comes from watching a child cross the stage and transform from high school student to high school graduate. Many were trapped in never-ending cycles of adult literacy programs that didn’t understand the populations they served and therefore, failed to meet their needs. I understood this population because I was part of it.