Reflection by: Karina Lozano-Serrano
Dr. Dramaine began his session with an introduction of who he is and his relation to the topic he’d be presenting on. He’s taken a remarkable journey in the field of education and has given his testament to the impact teachers can have on their communities. Hailing from a rural background with parents who were also educators, he pursued higher education at NC A&T University and the University of Phoenix. His teaching career began in 2001, and his passion for education eventually led him to become a principal within the same district that he attended growing up. Today, he’s a prominent figure at Appalachian State University, where he was assigned a study assignment which led him to present about empowering rural education at the 2023 Color of Education summit.
Returning to his rural roots after experiencing urban life, Dr. Dramaine couldn’t help but notice the stark differences in education and infrastructure. He reiterated two truths about budgeting: 1. you can only spend your money once, and 2. wherever you spend your money is where your heart is. Knowing this, Dr. Dramaine was led to a critical question: Where is the heart of North Carolina, and where is their money going? He then delved into understanding how different districts, particularly those with finite resources and rural areas, allocate their budgets, and further, how much is known about them.
The Rural Teacher Leader Network (RTLN) overview showcases Dr. Dramaine’s dedication to understanding the needs of rural educators by identifying where they’re struggling, and how it is reflected within their district budgeting. The network aims to advocate for the needs of rural students and teachers, provide professional development support, and build a strong network of rural education leaders. North Carolina, with a substantial rural student population, faces a continuous decrease in funding per student in rural district schools. Session participants attributed this funding decrease to various factors such as COVID-19, the charter school movement, rural living appeal, and shrinking school populations.
Dr. Dramaine then opened the floor to discussion about possible solutions to advocate for proper funding in rural schools in support of educators and students. A solution Dr. Dramaine proposed was changing the mindset of rural educators. Schools in rural areas are often cut off from networking and collaboration with other teachers (for reasons such as location and distance) so they lack the mindset and knowledge to understand just how bad their school funding is and how to advocate for change on that. So when third parties come in to educate them on how to advocate for better budgeting with knowledge of the statistics, they can get their funding to spend where their heart is that can best impact the students they serve. A proposal that stood out to me most was taken from Dr. Dramaine’s system-wide perspective. He proposed that Budget Transparency could make all the difference in how schools spend their money. Budgets show priorities, and this transparency would allow teachers to to advocate for any discrepancies in educational ethics.
Closing his session, Dr. Dramaine shared what he learned from this research project and what he’ll take from it. During the process of creating the presentation he was led back to thinking, “My hometown isn’t important. How can I make it important?” This idea was not because his hometown was not truly important, but because North Carolina budgeting in rural areas reflected that it was. This discovery underlines the importance of equity in education and how funding disparities can have a profound impact on educators’ ability to teach, on student outcomes, and larger opportunities for rural communities to thrive.