ABOUT
482 FORWARD
OUR MISSION
We are creating a Detroit where every student graduates ready to become a fully engaged participant in the world, equipped with the character and the capacity to negotiate her environment and change it for the better.
OUR BELIEFS
All children have the right to an excellent education, regardless of their race or socioeconomic status.
Families have the right to help define solutions to problems in their schools and their communities.
Student success is the collective responsibility of our entire community.
OUR APPROACH
Education organizing refers to the actions of parents and other residents of marginalized communities to transform low-performing schools towards higher performance through an intentional building of power.
This is different from other approaches to school improvement because we believe those who are most affected by the problem should help create the solution. In other words, families and students have to be in the driver's seat if we want kids to succeed.
Education organizing focuses on system change and school accountability. This is different from other approaches to school improvement because we focus on changing the root causes, not trying to fix the symptoms or trying to help one individual at a time. That means if students are reading behind grade level, we won't just start a tutoring program for a few kids; we will also push for policies like an extended school year or better teacher training.
Education organizing refers to the actions of parents and other residents of marginalized communities to transform low-performing schools towards higher performance through an intentional building of power.
Improving educational outcomes is just part of a broader agenda of creating justice for low- and moderate-income communities. Its goals are both building community capacity and reforming schools.
This is different from other approaches because we believe we shouldn't improve our schools by hurting our communities in other ways, like closing a bad school only to leave behind a dangerous abandoned building
HISTORY OF 482 FORWARD
482Forward grew out of trial by fire. Many of the founding organizations had previous relationships and shared work in Detroit, but came together for a special purpose– to create the 482Forward network.
Molly Sweeney and Jamila Martin, founding co-directors, convened a roundtable of community-based partners at Excellent Schools Detroit who were interested in engaging in education organizing in their neighborhoods. When ESD no longer wanted to support organizing, the partners felt so strongly about the work they had built together that they stood together to form an independent network and raise the necessary funding. The founding directors, staff, and leaders had a vision of leveraging social service communities toward organizing that would marry, rather than place at odds, immediate program work with long-term system change work.
Everything about 482Forward was formed collectively. Subcommittees learned about things like structure, membership, and conferences from other organizations and brought back recommendations that were adopted by the whole body. In particular, 482Forward representatives visited Kentuckians for the Commonwealth and had a number of learning conversations with them and Together Colorado. Everyone debated and consensed on issues like who should be on the board and whether or not members should pay dues.
The first group of organizers was hired directly from the parent leadership in each participating organization. Today, we have 10 staff, 5 interns, 12 participating organizations, and hundreds of dedicated students, parents, educators, and community members across Detroit working together to achieve education justice.