“My goal [is] just making sure that all students can really get a quality education and they don’t have to be lucky to get that, and making that the norm, not the exception.”

Adam Layne

Welcome to Navigating STL Schools, a podcast.  

Today’s guest is Adam Layne, newly elected St. Louis Public Schools school board member. Adam began teaching high school math in SLPS in 2011, and has been working since then toward educational equity and quality experiences for students in St. Louis. In this episode, Adam sits down with Staci to discuss his turning points in education, misconceptions about the SLPS district and school board, and today’s SLPS students being tomorrow’s St. Louis workforce.

They discuss:

• Adam’s education experience, which includes being a first-generation American and the first in his family to go to college, as well as his South African mother’s experience immigrating to the U.S.
• The first turning point for Adam’s education was third and fourth grades, when he qualified for advanced placement in his public school, but was not actually placed in the class
  • His mom advocated for him and pushed to get him into the program
  • After this fourth grade experience, Adam attended private and independent schools
• Second turning point was when he was in high school and considered his heavy backpack a burden, but realized when compared to his public school peers who didn’t have the same access to quality education as he did, he began to see the heavy backpack as an opportunity rather than a burden
• These experiences have really shaped his focus on educational equity
• How he went from studying to work in finance to wanting to be a teacher
  • He liked working as a tutor more than he liked his finance internships
  • Discovering Wall Street banking wasn’t where his passion lies, around junior year of college
  • Learned about Teach For America in his senior year
• How Adam’s experience as a teacher has shaped his role as a school board member
  • High expectations vs. reality
  • Socioeconomic disadvantages some students have to face and overcome, almost from birth
  • Talking to and learning from teachers
• Misconceptions about public school districts and school boards
  • “No student can go through SLPS and get a quality education”
    • With the right supports, students can get a good education at SLPS schools
    • The issue is that every student can’t get a good education
    • Underserved populations, zip codes, historically disinvested-in communities
    • This is rooted in St. Louis, and how things have always stereotypically been
  • A lot of people think the school board makes the plans
    • We moreso approve plans
    • If we don’t like a plan, we can offer suggested alternatives
  • People don’t talk to board members enough
    • Adam says he’s an open book – give him a call if there’s something you think I need to know.
• Being passionate about the work, despite not being a product of SLPS schools or having children in the schools
  • Adam doesn’t have any actual kids, but he feels like he has hundreds of them
  • It’s about the lifelong relationships, because that’s what persists
  • Keeping in touch with many students who have moved on
• Advice for parents and community members who are distrustful of the school system
  • Find someone you do trust within the system
  • Know that schools are always a work in progress, and positive change arises from conflict
  • Find organizations that can help you find the right fit for you in a school
• Adam’s vision for the future success of SLPS schools
  • Quality
  • Financial transparency
  • Increased advocacy
  • Collaboration with constituents
    • We are all trying to do what’s best for the students because they are the future of the St. Louis region
• Tools to help parents and students successfully navigate the K-12 experience
  • Know that they are the customer, and schools should be selling themselves to you, not the other way around
    • Ask questions
    • Find out the good and the bad about the school
    • Learn what the schools offer
  • Really know your child, they’re talents, interests and strengths
• The most important thing Navigate STL Schools can do
  • You’re already doing it
  • There’s so much info out there, help parents digest it and make the right decisions