Mass school closings have become a hallmark of today's dominant education policy agenda. But rather than helping students, these closures disrupt whole communities. And as U.S. Department of Education data suggests, the most recent rounds of mass closings in Chicago, New York City and Philadelphia disproportionately hurt Black and low-income students.
What can you do to end these discriminatory and unacceptable school closures?
Black students in Arkansas schools are more likely to be suspended and receive corporal punishment than their White counterparts, according to a new report from Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families (AACF), a member of the AR OTL Campaign.
Accountability should go both ways. Students and teachers shouldn't be held accountable to high-stakes test scores and grades unless they have the resources they need meet those standards. Which means that state governments should be held to account for providing high-quality resources and opportunities for all children, regardless of where they live.
During Tuesday night's State of the Union Address, President Obama touched on education issues at several points in his speech. The Schott Foundation for Public Education today released its response to the President's education message:
Robert Balfanz and his colleagues have drawn our attention to high schools where nearly half of students do not graduate with their peers. The enrollment in these schools is overwhelmingly Black and Hispanic, and the concentration of Black students in urban drop-out factories is a significant contributor to the nation’s low educational attainment for male Black students and the wide achievement gap between these most vulnerable students and others.
There are two items in the press today (Dec. 12) that offer first a diagnosis of the ills of American public schools and then a prescription.
John Kuhn, the superintendent of a small public school district in Texas, writing in Valerie Strauss’ Washington Post column “The Answer Sheet,” proposes that:
In just a few weeks, the Schott Foundation for Public Education will honor several extraordinary education leaders during its Hot Schott Awards Gala at its 2011 National Opportunity to Learn Education Summit in Washington, D.C., Dec. 8-10 at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel.
The advancement of school discipline reform has been a bright spot among what often feels like a sea of bad news in education. Coalitions like the Dignity in Schools Campaign and national groups like the Advancement Project and NAACP have long highlighted the unjust, inequitable and ineffective school discipline policies that far too many children attend school under.
Black and Brown students are demanding that their school districts end the school-to-prison pipeline and invest in solutions that create a true sense of safety, dignity and opportunity for learning. They are advocating for schools that are sufficiently resourced, affirming of their identities, provide culturally responsive social and emotional learning, and offer mental health supports to students who need them. Students are also calling on school officials to decriminalize their learning environments from racially unjust policies and practices — including the removal of police from our schools.
Black and Brown students are demanding that their school districts end the school-to-prison pipeline and invest in solutions that create a true sense of safety, dignity and opportunity for learning. They are advocating for schools that are sufficiently resourced, affirming of their identities, provide culturally responsive social and emotional learning, and offer mental health supports to students who need them.
It’s been sixty-five years since the landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision signalled the beginning of a profound shift in public education across the country. The U.S. Supreme Court in refuting the doctrine of “separate but equal” was not acting alone, but was reflecting a long-held understanding held by Black communities throughout the segregated South — communities organizing and mobilizing together, shaking the chains of Jim Crow and the firmament of white supremacy that held them in place.
