Kids at Atlanta’s Ron Clark Academy- Inspiration or Exploitation?

I was in Atlanta for New Year’s and you couldn’t miss all of the news clips of Ron Clark telling the story of how he received a donation to the Ron Clark Academy from Oprah for $365,000.  A heartwarming story, and those kids are absolutely adorable.  From the message boards, it seems like there’s a little bit of a split on how people are feeling about the Ron Clark Academy’s rise into the spotlight.  I question it, to some extent, but am choosing to believe the best of intentions.  I’d love to see these kids grow up and do fantastic things with their lives given the positive exposure they’ve received from their “You Can Vote However You Like” song during a historically significant election.

I don’t know Ron Clark, and I don’t anymore about the school than what I’ve seen from these kids on tv, but I think some black folks are tired of seeing the great white savior swoop into the inner city and “save” the poor underprivileged black children.  That’s where I think some of the controversy is rooted.

Excerpt from Us Magazine

An educator named Ron Clark almost didn’t notice the whopping check, which was included in a letter from the talk show host. Clark opened the private academy in 2007 in one of the poorest neighborhoods of South Atlanta. Most students rely on private donations to pay the $14,000-per-year tuition.

from another US Magazine article…

“We teach school all day and fundraise at night,” Clark told the Associated Press. “To have an unsolicited gift come like that is incredible.”

Clark says the donation will pay for 26 students to attend the 80-student middle school for one year…

…The check came from the Oprah Winfrey Foundation, which handed out $4 million to educational programs in 2008.

I know from my own experience, and just life in general, that you have to hustle to get your voice heard, and if Ron Clark is milking his school’s 20 seconds of fame for the benefit of the school, then you can’t knock that hustle.  I mean he worked the kids into the media circuit at a time that the nation was opening up themselves to change.   Children are the best representation of all things are possible.  Something warms our hearts to see kids tackle grown-up issues like the election from that happy “sky is the limit” perspective. Besides, the election was followed by Christmas so you just have to embrace the joy.  I love Oprah to death, but I know she’s an opportunist with the financial means to justify it.  God love her for writing that check, but I hope she stays in touch with Ron to see how the students are doing…and not just the shiny stuff like “We are the world” type jingles.

Well, the latest single from the children of Ron Clark Academy is “Dear Obama.”  You can hear it in the YouTube clip below by skipping to about 3:35 in the clip…unless you want to hear Ron’s heartfelt story again told in the voice of “Kenneth” (comedian Jack McBrayer) from “30 Rock.”  Maybe that joke is in poor taste given the subject, but I just want to know if any of you were thinking the same thing when you saw this on tv?

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