NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Alexza Barajas Clark, executive director of EdTrust-Tennessee, issued the following statement in response to the National Guard’s impending arrival to Memphis:
At EdTrust-Tennessee, we believe that strong communities are essential for creating strong schools. We are deeply concerned about the National Guard deployment in Memphis. Community safety comes from strong schools, wrap-around services, and economic opportunity – not military presence. When National Guard troops patrol the neighborhoods where children walk to school and families gather, they create an environment of fear that follows students into their classrooms.
Memphis has our support along with our local partners in the Tennessee Alliance for Equity in Education who tirelessly advocate for fairer, more equitable communities for youth and their families.
Across Tennessee, we’ve seen communities flourish when we invest in childhood education, mental health supports, and pathways to good jobs. Our students deserve resources that address root causes, not reactive measures that criminalize their communities.
About EdTrust-Tennessee
EdTrust-Tennessee works to improve academic achievement and expand opportunity for students in Tennessee.
We equip students, educators, advocates, and policymakers with data, tools, and support to influence education policy. By mobilizing communities across the state, EdTrust-Tennessee amplifies collective power to better influence and inform the policy decisions being made on behalf of students from low-income backgrounds, of color, with disabilities, in rural areas, and English learners, regardless of citizenship status.
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