The Great Schools for All (GS4A) conference had over 200 participants the morning of May 5th at the Mt. Olivet Baptist Church at 141 Adams Street.  The participation grew significantly since their last such event on November 10th of 2014 when around 125 participated. 

A major objective of the group is to organize or encourage schools that have less than 40% of its students below the poverty line.  Studies show that poverty percentages higher than that make it very difficult to have successful schools.  Their website http://gs4a.org/events/nov-10-2014/ reviews the events and results from the November 10 conference. 

Based on the November conference they set up 6 groups to further study:

1. Countywide magnet schools
2. Summer learning
3. Urban-Suburban expansion
4. Regional planning
5. Outreach and diversity
6. Legislation

At this May 5th conference these groups reported their progress.  I thought the increase in the number of districts participating in the Urban-Suburban was very encouraging.

These reports were followed by breakout sessions on to further discuss:

1. Summer Learning Programs
2. Urban-Suburban Program Expansion
3. County-Wide Magnet Schools
4. Regional Planning for Socioeconomic Integration
5. Outreach and Diversity

The conference ended with representatives from each group reporting back on things discussed in their group.

The participants at this meeting, as at the November meeting, were predominantly white, middle class City and suburban dwellers.  Many were retirees.  The fact that both conferences were held during the work week contributed to that situation.  The Outreach and Diversity group I sat in on did discuss ways to get a broader participation.