Terrence Wilson, J.D., is IDRA’s regional policy and community engagement director where he is working across the U.S. South to dismantle the school-to-prison pipeline and ensure equitable access to education for every student. He brings experience from a number of civil rights law and policy organizations that place equity and justice at the forefront of their work. He directs IDRA’s Southern Education Equity Network (SEEN) in Texas and Georgia. He worked with Virginia education leaders, researchers and advocates to develop What Virginia’s Anti-Equity Executive Order 1 and Reports Mean for K-12 Schools and Students – A Guide for School Leaders.
He has worked across the country in organizations, such as the Advancement Project in Washington, D.C., the Brennan Center for Justice in New York, the American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina, the Barton Child Law and Policy Center at Emory School of Law and the Georgia Appleseed Center for Law and Justice in Atlanta, Georgia. In addition to analyzing data and performing policy research, he has been actively engaged in several state legislatures, lobbying and testifying on behalf of legislation aimed at closing the school-to-prison pipeline. He also brings organizing and community engagement experience to IDRA from his work on political campaigns and with local elected officials.
Terrence was born and raised in Richmond, Virginia, and attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as a Morehead-Cain Scholar. He then attended the University of Georgia where he received his juris doctor and a master’s degree in public administration.
Fun Fact: I spent a month sea kayaking in Southeast Alaska and spent the night on Kuiu Island which has one of the highest density Black Bear populations in North America.
Media featuring Terrence Wilson
Eradicating the School-to-Prison Pipeline through a Comprehensive Approach to School Equity, Arkansas Law Review, by Morgan Craven, J.D., Paula Johnson, Ph.D., & Terrence Wilson, J.D.
Writings
- Advocacy Goals for Educational Equity in Georgia – IDRA Policy Priorities for the 2023 General Assembly Session, January 27, 2023
- Mask Mandate Legislation Makes It Harder for Local Schools to Keep Students and School Staff Safe, September 02, 2022
- Recent Campaigns for “Parents’ Bill of Rights” Designed to Marginalize Majority of Families, August 31, 2022
- Georgia Assembly Approves Classroom Censorship, April 22, 2022
- Students Speak Out Against Classroom Censorship, March 17, 2022
- Fighting Classroom Censorship in Georgia, February 03, 2022
- Equitable Education Policies in the U.S. South Can Push the Country Toward Education Justice, January 30, 2022
- Priorities and Recommendations for the 2022 Georgia Legislative Session, December 14, 2021
- Georgia School Leaders Provide Counter Measures to Classroom Censorship Efforts, December 02, 2021
- Tennessee Censorship Policy Serves as Warning to Other States, September 17, 2021
- School Censorship Policies Sweep through the South, September 02, 2021
- Pandemic No Excuse for Growth of Poorly Performing Virtual Charter Schools in U.S. South, December 22, 2020
- Effective Education Reform During COVID-19 Requires Authentic Family Engagement, August 30, 2020
- Family Engagement is Key to Student Safety Amidst COVID-19 Reopening, August 26, 2020
- State Takeovers of School Districts Don’t Work, May 27, 2020
- Without Intervention, COVID-19-Induced Budgetary Shortfalls Will Fall Hardest on Marginalized Students in the South, May 22, 2020
- Students in Southern States Face Short- and Long-Term COVID-19 Challenges, April 03, 2020
- At What Cost? A Review of School Police Funding and Accountability Across the U.S. South, February 26, 2020
- Meet Terrence Wilson, J.D. – IDRA Regional Policy and Community Engagement Director, February 26, 2020
Podcasts
