"It was counselors that literally saved my life," Kalamazoo Public Schools Board of Education candidate Jermaine Jackson says. Jackson, who has worked for KPS as a paraprofessional educator and a bus driver, says that if he's elected to the Board he'll work to increase the role of counselors in students' lives.
"When I was just drowning in having failing grades and my counselors and teachers really knew my potential was beyond failure, and that I could do better than what I was doing, I was one of those kids that was put out of the school and had to go to the alternative schools and that's where my turnaround happened. But it was because of counselors talking to me and saying, 'Jermaine, you're better than this, you can do this,'" he said.
In an interview with WMUK, Jackson explains why he believes the district has a problem with bullying and what the district can do to improve student outcomes, particularly the graduation rate for minority students, which he calls "very low." He also discussed teacher salaries and the district's approach to security.
