Breaking Barriers in Special Education with Jason B. Allen

jason-b--allen---professorjba-_2_02-02-2025_123511

[00:00:00] Okay. Sorry, I'm back. I thought I was in and then it was like still frozen.

So we were talking about my, the last thing that I heard was, you know, basically the journey of how I ended up teaching, um, coming out for being an administrator. You had made a comment around that.

Okay.[00:01:00]

You know, that's a great question. Um, you know, supportive, you know, prayerful, you know, I, I reflect on You know, even, you know, my dad is one of my mentors and his thoughts, you know, on, okay, this is what you have to do, then let's do it. Uh, but now also how do we help keep the lights on? And so, you know, it was opportunities and, um, you [00:02:00] know, things that, you know, came across again.

I think about those two years of going through school and, you know, different contracts and people were, you know, my small business was thriving and that helped me. Now it's not thriving right now. I'm building it back. Uh, but what I needed during that time, you know, came and I, I just really think having seen my great grandparents, especially my, uh, dad's grandmother who lived to be 115 years old.

She was a descendant of, you know, slaves and knowing that history of our family and how we have been able to persevere and overcome. Um, you know, I think about that in circumstances, if those who came before me were able to endure it, and this is my cross to bear, and hey, let me bear it, and you know, go through it so that those who come after me can say, hey, if they did it, and then, you know, that group did it, and he did it, then I should be able to do [00:03:00] this, uh, and make it through.

Oh, yes.

Mm hmm.

That's good, yes.

Let me say that some of that was [00:04:00] official, some of it was unofficial. I wasn't going to wait on the system that had already failed these children and families to say, Oh, you know, we did this wrong. Um, I made sure that I, a built relationships with my students and I also was in community. So I was like, Hey, okay, listen, school is out.

Listen, your dad is still up at the tire shop. Your mom is still, uh, you know, at the bank, your grandmother is still at the Walmart. So. I also spent time in community meeting families where they were and was like, listen, can you come up to the school? You can't come up to the school. I need five minutes. My dad is the only non educator, even though I say he is an educator in our family.

He's a business owner and he's an entrepreneur. So I know how to market and sell. So if you give me you. Baby, you say I need five minutes. You say three. Okay. Three minutes. Here's what, here's what we're going to do. And here's what it is. And I'm very intentional about, I don't want to waste your time because it's already been wasted, but here's what I've seen.

And this is where [00:05:00] we can get. Your child. I have former students who work for the city of Douglasville, the city of Atlanta, the city of South Fulton, you know, Duluth, et cetera, so forth. And they have good government jobs. And guess what these brothers could do. They can take care of their kids. And so for me, that is gratifying that I have students that listen to my lessons and are good husbands and are good men to their wives or their spouses and are good.

Fathers to their children. That is a, they may not be doctors, they may not be lawyers, but let me tell you what they are doing. So for me, that is a huge win for us. I have former students that are teachers that were like, I went back to teach brother because you reached me. I never had another teacher like you, but every turn I thought about what I learned from you in middle school, in high school.

And I was like, that stuff rings true. And so. That is why I [00:06:00] did what I did, um, with my 20 years in education, and also thinking about how the IEPs go back to the original question. And even the services are not provided. I also want to make this very clear. A lot of my counterparts were white, and they did this.

I don't think it was purposeful. A lot of them make assumptions. We are a product of our society. We assume that something is wrong with black children because this is what society is. This is also what research has taught us. And I want to say that when I went to get my degree in special education, I realized that we don't have people on the state level who are training teachers who understand that there are different nuances in education that impact the way that children learn.

And so I had my very first and only black professor who was a woman. And That was my only class that I [00:07:00] felt seen that I felt like this is really something that's going to impact all of the children, not just some or a few of my students, but this is something that will impact all of my students and it was the first class where I did not have to go and buy extra resources.

Because my professor was intentional about, let me make sure that I'm providing something for non English speaking, uh, speaking, you know, students and educators who are serving them and educators who have Muslim or Hindu or spiritualist children in their classrooms and their religion may say that, oh, Because you learn in this way, it's demonic, or it's bad, or you're different, and how can I help this teacher impact this child who is also dealing with social emotional trauma, because you have a speech impediment.

And culturally, we're saying that, oh, that's of the devil. Maybe it's a speech impediment. You could grow out of it. If your family and your culture wasn't [00:08:00] telling you that you are demonic, but you can't shake that, but there's no research. There's no support for teachers who don't have that coming through programs because we are not there.

And so having to go back in and correct those IEPs and making sure the services aligned. was crucial because I not only found myself the only person in my building, but even my special education coordinator who oftentimes are not people of color, who are maybe white women do not have that training and do not know that, Oh, this IEP looks good, but it is not matching up to the needs of the whole child.

And I wanted to make sure that I put that in the atmosphere because even black. Educators who are not studied and who have shown themselves to be approved still miss the mark with our children thinking that, oh, that's a hood thing, but you didn't grow up in the hood. So you don't even understand the dynamics of the hood.

So just because you're black doesn't mean that you [00:09:00] understand all black children and you definitely understand the nuances of the hood or living in, um, lower economic communities.

That's a great question. Uh, the school that I planned [00:10:00] on returning to and wanting to work at thought that they had the money and they didn't. Um, to be honest and very upfront, I mean, no tea, no shade to them. Uh, but that is how the charter world works. And that's why I'm a huge advocate for black and brown owned.

Charter schools that connect with HBCUs, that connect with churches because it economically gives back to us, like overturn. Just like that, we see the dollars coming back into our community immediately because the employees live in the community, the children in the community are being served. We need afterschool programming.

We need nonprofits that we can give small contracts to who are in the community. So. Um, that was the situation as to why I did not return, um, back and it was already like right at the start of the year. So any positions or any like, you know, everybody's trying to grab what they can, the best of the best.

And it was like, Oh, okay. [00:11:00] It was, it was stuck. And the national parents union came along and said, Hey, I think that you may be available. You would be awesome with, you know, helping us organize. And I can organize in my sleep because I come from a family of organizers and, um, activists. And so that's what.

Um, place me in the education policy spaces, much more so now in being the partnership director, really, you know, working with the United Nations and with the U. S. Department of Education, even under the current administration, but also national organizations that are influencing, impacting policy, research, innovation and education.

A lot of the spaces that I'm in now, I am the only Okay. Black and you can check off the list of however long it may go, but I am the only person in that space. And so I am definitely missing teaching, but also, um, excited about this new [00:12:00] exploration and then still encouraging people to say innovation and education does look like if the best teachers are coaches and administrators, why are they not running the class?

I believe in it. I would love to see a school where I'm the executive director. I'm the school principal. I'm the nurse. I would love to, you know, see the nurse teaching a class on hygiene, health and wellness. Like I just where we create that, that culture and also having been a district administrator with innovation, looking at, um, How do I build culture in my school?

If my school nurse, if my bus drivers, if my, you know, educational staff and my teachers are having to work two or three additional jobs, they're not coming to work at 100 percent and I need my staff to come in at 100%. So if there's a way for us to add more classes and you know, you get in the extra 500 a month because you teach this [00:13:00] one class a day, but it's every day and we're seeing gains here.

How do we make Those things happen. And I will also say this, you know, on your podcast, as a district administrator, I have also seen the equity conversations of why do the white schools have this? Well, let me give everybody this for free. All right. Their communities are much more engaged in a different political and financial way.

And they create the positions that they need and they fund the work of their teachers and what their teachers need outside of what the district provides. So, I want to say that and also say go to educationalentities. com and book me if you want to know how to build that for your school. Because we do need more of that and I'm talking about Locally operated or what some people may say traditional public schools were doing this.

This was not just charter schools that were doing this traditional public [00:14:00] schools have and are doing this and I would love to see more black leaders in the forefront of that type of innovation doing what's needed for our children.

Yes, I love that. Well, I would say first community has to be accountable. Let's be honest. Our current president is saying I want to push more power back to the states. Well, that's going to [00:15:00] disenfranchise even more people because what I know for a fact, especially over the last 10 years and what I've been teaching my my students within this last decade is that local elections have poor voter turnout.

Right? So how do we retain teachers? How do we do more for teachers? You need school board members, like, for example, in Atlanta, Georgia. Chevy Brooks, who is the first active teacher on the school board, who is actually teaching in the classroom, and is on the school board. Well, how did that happen?

Community organizers, right? Partners like Equity and Education and the Georgia, you know, National Parents Union team and Lilly's Foundation and other people to come together and say, Hey, we want to put the funding behind this candidate and get this candidate on the school board. Right? And so we had grandparents putting aside a, you know, 2 or maybe they 5.

We had children putting aside the coins and they and they piggy bank whether [00:16:00] it's the, you know, Digital or in like live, right? We have people engaged in all ways. However, you wanted to digital currency, however, you wanted to be connected. We connect the people this brother got on the school board did what he needed to do to galvanize the school board and said, hey, we're going to change teacher salaries.

Well, that. Was the biggest change in a district in Georgia and what happened after that? The other metro Atlanta districts, which are 41, said, hey, They're getting all the good teachers because all of the good teachers are wanting to leave us and go there. We need to change what? Our teacher pay scale. So now this year when we go to the Capitol on February 27th in Black History Month, We are bringing together over 300 black fathers, teachers, and educators.

To the Capitol to advocate for this. Now I'm doing a shameless plug for our annual day at the [00:17:00] Capitol, but I also am saying that this is our fifth annual event at the Capitol is the only one in the state of Georgia. And it came from my students. Right. My special education class, the one that we overlook and think that these students get my students in a special education class.

I want to make sure that I stress that because these were students who were not passing the standardized test and who were not on the principal's list and who were not like your, you know, spell and be winners. But when I said, what is the problem that you want to fix and what is something that you want to see?

And one of my students who actually is now on the principal's list. Um, said that I want to see more teachers like you. And so I said, let's research this. My students, they did the research. They found that there is not a day that acknowledges black fathers or black teachers or black male teachers like that at the Capitol.

And we created that with the help of our locally elected official at the time. [00:18:00] And we started this day to honor black fathers and teachers and community leaders at the Capitol and to advocate for more. Black teachers in our state. So, it's important because if our students are not involved in the change, if they're not involved in the innovation, then we're just going to continue having great conversations like this, right?

And everybody's talking, but how are we strategically implementing what we know that Douglas, what we know that Harriet, what we know that John Lewis and Nelson Mandela, what we know these people did? How are we actually going to do that to move the next generation forward?

Okay,[00:19:00]

oh yes That's big out there

Yes, that's good. You drop it. That's good. It's good

Yeah.[00:20:00]

Oh, yeah, it's still fairly new so right Um, so now currently I'm with the National Parents Union We are the independent united voice of modern american Families, we create and implement policies that positively impact, right, because you can create policies, but they could be detrimental to masses and beneficial to, you know, a very small percentage.

So we create and implement policies that positively impact the lives of modern American [00:21:00] families. And it's not just centered on innovation and education. We also look at policies that impact economic mobility. Because these were things that American families have been telling us way before. Let me just say this, Black America, I want you to hear this.

Modern American families were talking about economics way before the campaign. Okay, so I just want to make sure that the Democrats and everyone else hears that. That was a concern for modern American families before. We have the data that proves that, but I also want to highlight this. We don't value family and community engagement in education, and we don't value the voices of parents.

So a lot of times we aren't listening to what the everyday person is saying, because we also don't value those who we look at as less than. A lot of times we say it's lower income, but if we're more specific, it's really black. And anyone that has the notion of you are black, And if you are black and you are adjacent to any of the people that are [00:22:00] behind me or adjacent to the hood, then we still look at you as, as less than.

So I also wanted to just, I wanted to just pause there, highlight that in policy world.

I know, I saw your hand, that's why I was like

Yeah.[00:23:00]

Well, I want to pause you and say that, that is a great point. And having a lot of Okay, let me, let me say this. It's important for us to, yes, I am very pro HBCU. I did not go to a HBCU. I went to a predominantly white institution. And that helped me to learn white people a little bit differently. Because we do go into situations a lot of times that white people are the enemy.

It's white and it's black. And we draw those lines. And I'm sharing this because it connects to how it impacts policy. It connects to the stereotypes. And so Stereotypes. That is the Suitswag and Success, my very first book. I wrote this book to address the negative [00:24:00] stereotypes of black men and black boys.

Um, it connects, this is my 25th year of advocating, um, for male engagement. My program that my, uh, former professor and mentor, Dr. Saeed Sewell, and one of my best friends, Terrell Cleveland, started at the University of West Georgia. Um, it's called black males with initiative right on the, at the cusp of, you know, president books Bush saying, Hey, we need these special initiatives to really kind of cleaned up some areas where we messed up.

Right. And so from that research and looking at how we have to advocate for ourselves in different spaces, our biggest barrier are the stereotypes, because there is a good number of white people. I would say that. Now there's a smaller number of them that is like 10 percent of them that are like Jimmy Carter, knowing him and his family personally, that's a very, if we could [00:25:00] get 30%, we will really make change in this country, but we don't have 30 percent of white people who are like Jimmy Carter.

I'm just being honest. Cause we, this is the platform to be honest. And I feel like this is helpful for people to know. You've got to be able to find a Jimmy Carter's. In your community because it's a diamond in the rough all white people are not Jimmy Carter Please don't that they're not that there's 10 percent of them that are but it's 30 percent of them that really do Care about humanity.

They care about other people and they are people who I have worked with That a lot of times are fearful. They are they're fearful of black families because they too have been taught They have been conditioned to think that if black people I can't control you if I'm nice to you And I'm you know kind of pacifying you in a sense I don't want to be too truthful with you because if I say girl, you know That this system is really setting up your child.

I don't have security near me I don't have anybody there in case you act out because they have been [00:26:00] told that we are instable That, not that it's like a bad thing, it is a bad thing because it's a negative stereotype. It wasn't maliciously taught, that's a part of their, you know, their culture. And I had to accept that, and then I had to figure out ways to work around that because is it my responsibility to educate you?

Not per se, but it is my responsibility to make sure that I amplify the stories. and amplify the personas of black people that I need for you to be connected to so you understand the human side of us and you can break down those stereotypes. And I wanted to just give some time to that because on a psychological level, I know that we think about stereotypes and bullying like, Oh, you know, that's par for the course, right?

But these are major things because how my psyche thinks of you is how my heart and my spirit are gonna convey Those thoughts and my interactions to [00:27:00] you and so, um, giving white people a little bit of grace But also understanding that a lot of times they are Going about what they have been taught which is embedded in what racism, you know, all of those things And so we have to teach them and we also have to reteach ourselves[00:28:00]

Yeah,

no and this no that is that is awesome And honest to say that it's not for everyone. That's why I'm so big on storytelling because your story can impact people in different ways. Everybody is not going to do it the way that you do it, but they can hear something. You say, you know, take it and say, I can improve my process.

I can approve, you know, improve or change my approach. And I think [00:29:00] that that is also Because we do still need the parents that are going to come in and, you know, flip tables over and say, Oh, you did this wrong by my child. But we also need parents to say, listen, Hey, at the end of the day, I'm tired. I know you're tired.

This was done in a manner and I need it to be better for my child. What do we do? And I think that we also have to. Um, remind ourselves to take deep breaths and take a step back and know that all the time everything ain't about us. Parents are, you know, I think about that often, like parents are coming to a school through traffic.

Now when I'm driving to places and I'm in traffic, I have to put myself, I had to do that three second. Now, let me think about when I'm driving through traffic and dang, I do know how it is when I'm trying to get somewhere and it's like everybody want to drive crazy at the last minute and I done cussed out three people in my head because I don't want to say it out loud because if I start to say it out loud, so just thinking about how it can, I try to be relatable.

[00:30:00] Um, to people even growing up here in Georgia and being around, you know, white people who will classify themselves as rednecks and they believe in their confederate flag. Well, I have to teach your students. And so how do we, you know, bridge the gap? A lot of their philosophies are, you know, the man got to be macho.

The women need to take care of the kids. And I'm like, well, here's the reality. Every man ain't going to be a construction worker. All right. So how do you not throw away your son who doesn't want to be the construction worker? He can still work on a construction site because you need an accountant. Don't you need somebody?

You know, you ain't good with numbers, right? Like you need somebody and you need somebody you can trust You also need somebody who can run fast and be like, hey, you know there it is a fire down the way in this coming You know, you need that right? So you got to find a place for everyone who may not be that builder and a lot of Men, whether they're white, black, whomever, having that conversation with them so that I don't want to throw away, even if, whether, [00:31:00] they, it may not even have anything to do with their sexuality.

Also how we define manhood, like, I am a nerd. What's wrong with being a nerd? Like, I, I, I, I like that, that's, that's me, that I like to read, I like to research, that's me. I don't want to be out there playing basketball. I want to be researching and figuring out how do they actually build this thing so I can go build it, right?

You got to be able to make space for everyone. And I'm just sharing that in this space and how we engage people with policies, how we engage people. Every black teacher is not an abolitionist teacher, right? Um, every white teacher is not racist. Um, you know, just helping people to not, um, this is something that I used to do.

I have to. Saying used to is really hard, but one of the things that I used to do with my students is Breakdown stereotypes by breaking down generalizations, and I would share a story about poppy who was my great grandfather And when he served in the Air Force and just you know [00:32:00] being a part of the service in this country and Serving overseas and coming back and those realities, and you know how you deal with things Um, he told me a lesson about labels and I, I stick with this even to this day about not subscribing to labels because people can label you as all of these things, but it's what you choose to live up to and what you hear your inner voice or what you hear, um, you know, a higher being speaking to you as to who you are and what you're called to do, you know, in this world.

If you subscribe to everybody else's label, you'll never be what you were designed and intended to be. And so I, I think about that when we, when people do a lot of generalizations, we saw this with the election where all teachers felt this way and all black people feel this way and black men did this and we get caught up in culture wars and distractions when we get caught in generalizations.

But if we take those deep breaths, you know, kind of think and see the humanity in [00:33:00] everybody that we can make better decisions of how we navigate ourselves in the space. And that's what I teach. Or that's what I would teach students, and I still do. I teach to adults now.

Yes.

Maybe just a pause, and you know, stay tuned to educational entities. I have my next book and workbook coming out, you know, in the series. I also have a book, um, Students for Equity that again really showcases my journey with student engagement and how those things have You know, help me as an educator to help hundreds of students, like change their academic pathways and how they successfully navigate through [00:34:00] them.

And so, you know, some of these books will be free eBooks. That's what I'm saying. Stay tuned to, you know, my website because, um, it'll be an alignment to the Speak Black Man podcast, but there are books that you can buy, but there'll also be eBooks because I believe that. So many of these journals and things that I have, you know, can be free resources to people who really need immediate change, ideas, you know, et cetera, so forth.

Oh, yeah, I have so many educators that I would definitely, um, shout out. So first of all, I'll start with my cousin Ashton, who is teaching, um, in Philly. Uh, he was at the BMAC conference, um, AJ Minor, um, Foundation, you can check him out, look him up, I would definitely, [00:35:00] uh, shout him out, you know, because, of course, I gotta start with my own family, my sister's an educator in special education, so, um, you know, shout out to her, well, I mean, first of all, my husband is an educator, uh, engineer and teacher, and, um, like, the number one, Um, I would say e sports and, you know, e gaming, uh, coach.

Uh, he's won several years in a row. Um, several of my cousins who are principals, uh, are people that I would definitely shout out. Now, my favorite teacher of all time, uh, one of my good childhood friends fathers, Mr. Gordon. He taught my siblings, my cousins, um, all of us. He was my first black male. Teacher and to, you know, to be quite honest, a lot of my incorporating, you know, civic engagement in the history of Atlanta or like just black history and my lessons that came from Mr.

Gordon, Mr. Gordon taught us about Alley Pat and walked us by his, well, it's not [00:36:00] there any longer, but it was a mansion on MLK, like right down the street from my school in the hood. And so he was like, yeah, Alley Pat was the first black DJ that became a millionaire. And, you know, he housed. You know, Dr. King and Malcolm X and different leaders in the basement of his home, you know, to kind of hide them away and I was like, black people had basements and like three level homes on a main street with a driveway and like, it was phenomenal, but that was a black male teacher who was like, Hey, now I'm going to teach you guys this and this is how it connects to citizenship and why you should, I thought that was brilliant.

Like, I mean, to be honest, it really was because it made me. You know, excited about the community and like wanted to learn more and be engaged. And so just thinking about teachers like Mr. Gordon, who inspire us at young ages, and you never know how you're going to inspire anybody. So I definitely have to shout out, uh, Mr.

Gordon.[00:37:00]

Okay.

Let me tell you, for me, what it means to be well is being smart about your health. And listen. I picked this up that quick because I'm actually reading and studying this and so, um, for me mental health and wellness is taking time to give back to yourself. A big part of giving back to myself is reading, uh, focusing on, uh, my mental health.

I'm looking right now at, you know, my weight set. I, I, I don't, I never had time to go to the gym. I never made time to work out, but I was intentional because if I'm going to study in here or be doing conferences or doing papers. Then I got to give some time to actually work out and, you know, exercise. And so those are things, um, that I wish I could show you guys some of the plants that are in my [00:38:00] office.

I also garden, right? Um, gardening for me. And, you know, really being in the yard per se, um, is healing. Uh, being able to spend time with the earth and also with the spirit realm, grieving those that have, Um, I'm going to a different dimension, but also showing thanks and how, you know, we still have those of us here that are growing, uh, and building.

So really intentional about spending time in the earth, um, outdoors, exercising, uh, protecting my mental health. I will also say this, the black people get off of social media all of the time. We spend our social media reading mess and junk and it's like junk food. Really? You put in all of that in your mental.

And it's impacting your spirit and your emotion. All of that time that we spend on social media, and we ain't called cousins that we haven't talked to in years. Or we haven't really even called siblings, or people who we love. And so if I could be on social [00:39:00] media, um, and you know these iPhones and these other contraptions, they have all these fancy apps that can track everything.

Look at, I'm just challenging us, as you ask me this question on mental health, or how I'm taking care of myself and wellness. This is what I'm doing. I'm tracking. How much time am I working? Oh How much time am I on social media? Cuz baby if I'm giving if I'm giving everybody else the best of me Then I need to be able to say I talked to my mama my daddy my grandparents my sisters People who I love like spending time with my dog checking in on my neighbors sitting in silence How long did I just spend time with myself because if I'm giving the best of me to everybody else That I don't have anything to really give back to me.

So parents, think about that with your children. And if I'm, if I'm giving the best to my job or jobs, if I'm giving the best to social media and being engaged, and then I don't know what my child's favorite color is, or what, you know, song that they like, then hey, you know, use these apps to the [00:40:00] betterment of you.

And so that's what I would say I'm doing for my mental health is really checking more out of the Reality, social media and reality TV aspect of life, um, under this administration and really checking more into, you know, being connected with the earth, being connected with spirit and eating healthy, um, and exercising.

Cause let me tell you, if you go survive 2025, you better start figuring out a way to not be eating out and eating at the house. Okay. That's it. And drinking water! Yes, drinking water. Shout out National Parents Union. But yes, drinking water. Yeah. That's it. That's my spiel.[00:41:00]

Yes, thank you.

Awesome. I'm at Professor JBA. Um, on my social media platforms. Um, or it may be under J. Burke Allen because that's my name, right? Uh, but if you Google me, you'll see educationalentities. com comes up. Um, you'll be able to connect to ETV, which is the YouTube channel with all of the podcasts or like the morning show, my students podcasts, um, like virtual events that I may do.

You can find all of those things there. Um, educationalentities. com. You can get my book. Um, all of that, you can connect with me if you want me to come and speak, uh, all of that. Yeah. And educationalentities. com is the best way to connect with me. And I look forward to. [00:42:00] Connecting with everybody.