Rani Dasi

"I don’t love [the phrase] achievement gap cause I think we hear in literature that it’s not a question of effort it’s usually a question of access to resources."

- Rani Dasi

This interview is a part of the Marian Cheek Jackson Center series on education. Rani Dassi is a member of the Chapel Hill and Carrboro Board of Education, originally from Cleveland, Ohio. She is one of ten children, who was homeschooled by her mother. This experience shaped how she views education and why she is so passionate about making sure every child in Chapel Hill and Carrboro can come into a classroom and get excited about learning. In the interview, Rani points out that access to quality education facilities and quality teachers is only one piece of the puzzle. In order for every student in the Chapel Hill and Carrboro community to be on equal footing communities need to invest in the upstream determinants of health as well as education. This means making sure students have access to free breakfast and lunch, proper therapists, and school counselors to help students work through trauma, as well as giving educators the capacity to adapt the curriculum to their students' needs without undermining their training and dedication. The interview ends with a call to action to vote yes to the Chapel Hill and Carrboro school bond that’s on the ballot this November (2024) so we can shift from an us vs. them mentality, to a we mentality.