Interview with Kyle Lim on the November 7 Grand Rapids Public Schools Bond Vote

Kyle Lim, who works with the Urban Core Collective, is part of a community-based effort in Grand Rapids that seeks to have more input on how money is allocated in the Grand Rapids Public School’s budget.

In September, we reported on an action taken by the Education Justice movement that the Urban Core Collective is involved in, where students, parents, teachers and community members have been working on a list of demands on how GRPS money should be used for essentially needs. During that action in September, we wrote: One parent, Marta Johnson, who has been working with the Urban Core Collective, came out last night to say: 

“Our house is on fire and we can’t just watch it burn. We cannot wait for bond dollars or a Facilities Master Plan to begin effecting change. We need GRPS administration to take immediate action on issues of air quality, transportation, teacher compensation, school food and mental health services.”

This list of demands can be viewed in more detail at this link, demands that were presented to the Grand Rapids Public School Board back in June, when the Urban Core Collective hosted a rally/march to the School Board meeting and presented these same demands to school officials.

In my interview with Kyle Lim, we talked about why the Urban Core Collective is encouraging people to vote for the GRPS Bond on November 7, what demands the  Education Justice group has presented to the GRPS, and the importance of community input on how public money is spent on public education. The interview is 33 minutes long.