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.
Demonstrations across the U.S. over the deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and so many others who have died at the hands of police brutality have further exposed our deeply racist and oppressive police system. The weight of this moment, created by a tidal wave of organizing and mobilization, has forced public school leaders to reevaluate the presence of police in public schools.
April 27, 2020
...but they need your help.
