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Author: Visceral Dev Admin

The Best Defense Against the Far Right: Organized Communities

The polarization around school board races this fall was an extension of the heated and conflictual board meetings we saw across the country over the past year. The understandable stress and frustration caused by extended pandemic school closures was in some places diverted to other issues more amenable to the far right. These races threatened districts with candidates who want to ban teaching about racism in schools, oppose vaccines and masking, and support privatization, largely fueled by a nationwide conservative media narrative and board-focused PACs with deep pockets. While the overall results were far from a landslide, many extreme members did get elected who otherwise wouldn’t have.

Are the 2021 School Board Elections a Wake-Up Call?

School districts across the country find themselves facing reactionary agitation focused on mask mandates, vaccines, curriculum, and the rights of transgender students. As such, it should be no surprise that such ferment would make its way to the ballot box this week. With some exceptions, these normally low-turnout school board elections saw many more voters — and candidates — than usual.

School Boards are Once Again Center Stage: How will Philanthropy Respond?

At a time when school boards should be focused on responsive and community-driven ways to use new COVID relief funds from the federal government, districts everywhere find themselves under a confluence of reactionary agitation focused on mask mandates, vaccines, curriculum, and the rights of transgender students. As NPR recently reported, “School boards have become the latest political battlefield, with fights over masks and COVID-19 vaccines, and with conservative parents concerned about diversity curriculum.” Sometimes, the fights are literal: in Loudon County, Virginia, the police were called to eject unruly conservative activists from a board meeting this summer.

The Struggles for Racial Justice at the Ballot Box and the Schoolhouse are One and The Same

The two institutions of American life most central to the struggle for racial justice and civil rights have been, from the start, the voting booth and the schoolhouse. During Reconstruction, Federal troops ensured voting rights for Black residents in former Confederate states. The legislators those new voters elected in states across the South made the establishment of public schools their top priority. Similarly, the flurry of Federal action in the 1960s in response to a growing Civil Rights Movement produced landmark bills: the Voting Rights Act and the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, both passing in the same year.

GFE Session: #JusticeIsTheFoundation – Shaping a Racial Justice Portfolio​

Attending the Grantmakers for Education virtual conference this year? We hosted an exciting panel discussing racial justice grantmaking, with frank discussions on problems in the sector, what grantees really need, and clear action steps you can take in building a racial justice portfolio.

We also discussed the data findings of our #JusticeIsTheFoundation project, which looks for the first time at the education philanthropy sector from racial justice and racial equity perspectives.

Schott Foundation Appoints Two New Board Members

The Schott Foundation for Public Education is pleased to announce two new members elected to its Board of Directors, Nayahra Resende and Zakiyah Shaakir-Ansari.

Schott Foundation Announces Michael S. Wotorson as Director of the National Opportunity to Learn Network

The Schott Foundation for Public Education is pleased to announce Michael S. Wotorson is joining Schott as Director of the National Opportunity to Learn Network today. In this position, he will work closely with grantees and allies to cultivate and support effective grassroots organizing and campaigns that build a more racially just and equitable public education system for all children.
 

“We Owe it to Future Generations”: Diallo Brooks on Building Racial Justice Inside and Outside Philanthropy

We sat down with Diallo Brooks, Schott Foundation’s new Senior Vice President of Programs and Advocacy. Diallo comes to Schott from People for the American Way, an organization dedicated to civil liberties, civil rights, and defending public institutions from the far right. At Schott, Diallo leads our programmatic and grantmaking efforts: working closely with our grassroots grantees and other funders to strengthen the education justice movement.

Have Students Returned to Classrooms or to the School-to-Prison Pipeline?

What good is returning to a classroom when a police officer can drag you out of it? In the face of the promise of re-opened schools, students, parents, and educators across the country are holding up the reality of the school-to-prison pipeline.

Spotlight: New Resource for Education Justice Organizers

While the pandemic, budget cuts and new federal and state legislation has changed the terrain, the struggle for justice and equity in public education continues. This week, the Alliance to Reclaim Our Schools (AROS) released a new education justice organizing toolkit for Fall 2021. AROS was founded with a mission to break down issue silos and bring together advocates from across the education justice movement. Schott is proud to be a founding partner and funder, and AROS’ current fiscal sponsor.