I am Elijah Armstrong, founder of Equal Opportunities for Students. I experienced extreme education discrimination in high school, and I decided to make a platform that would allow students and parents to teach the laws and rules that govern education, as well as a platform for students and parents to tell their own stories. This is why I started Equal Opportunities for Students with two initial series, Food for Thought and Tell Your Story. Food for Thought allows for education experts to spread their knowledge, and Tell Your Story allows for people to explain their own experiences with the education system, and suggest changes they want to see going forward.
Over the last few months, I have been incredibly busy. I recently settled my discrimination suit with Duval County Public Schools for $80,000. I also presented at a Disability in Education conference in Minnesota, and was asked to be a part of a Town Hall discussion at Teachers College at Columbia University in October. I also began writing for Education Post, and had two articles posted in the last two months. Lastly, I just finished an internship on Capitol Hill; I was interning with Congressman Ed Perlmutter from Colorado’s 7th district. All of these things were great opportunities for me, but unfortunately, this has meant I’ve been largely too busy to keep up with Equal Opportunities for Students.
Now that the summer is winding down, I am once again working on Equal Opportunities for Students, and promoting equality in education nationwide. I have started a new series called Grassroots Classroom, which tracks the education voting habits of representatives and senators nationwide, in an effort to help people make more informed voting decisions. However, I have to stress that voting every two years isn’t enough; local politics matters. It is important to know the stance of local politicians on education issues, because local politicians have drastic impacts on school systems.
Lastly, Equal Opportunities for Students is also beginning to publish written pieces by students, parents, teachers and education groups. We are also looking to give out three scholarships this year, to students, teachers, or groups that participate in Equal Opportunities for Students. If you have any questions about this, use the contact form on the website, or contact me on twitter @OnTehInterwebz.
Many improvements need to be made in our public school system, and it’s important to make sure that we’re heading in the right direction.
-Elijah Armstrong