Giving Compass' Take:

• The 74 explains that conversations about changing the start time for schools is taking away from more pressing issues — and might not really make a difference in education quality anyway.

• What challenges would working parents face if school start times were changed? How would this affect the working day and schedule? 

• Here's a different perspective, arguing that later school start times are linked to behavior improvements. 

In Indianapolis, there are 11 school districts. I live in the Metropolitan School District of Washington Township. A recent article about the large gap between white and black students in high-ability programs referred to Washington Township as one of the wealthiest districts in Indy.

Ten years ago when my husband and I were searching for a home, we weren’t thinking about the income of the residents in each school district. We were looking for a school district where we believed most of the schools were good and the district was diverse. My husband and I were both part of desegregation busing in Indianapolis, and we know all too well what it feels like to be the only black kid in the class. We did not want that for our children. We looked for a home in Lawrence Township, which happened to be the school district we were bused into, Washington Township, and Pike Township. After almost a year of searching, we finally agreed on a home in Washington Township.

Even though we were assured these were good schools for all kids, we quickly discovered that not all teachers were prepared to work with students from all backgrounds. The year before my sons entered school in Washington Township, I attended a teacher professional development at their future elementary school. Since I was there as a teacher, I didn’t mention that my sons would be attending in the fall. The way some teachers, who identified themselves as teaching in my sons’ school, spoke about black children and their parents made my blood boil.

Read the full article about school start times by Shawnta Barnes at The 74.