February 13: Join Teens Take Charge and The Civil Rights Project for the Activists X Academics Summit. The summit, focused on racial justice in K-12 public schools, was planned by youth for a national audience. Featuring: Andrew Brennan, Elise Boddie, Gary Orfield, Jo Ann Allen Boyce, Nikole Hannah-Jones, Noliwe Rooks, Luis Alejo, Mohammed Choudhury, and more!
|
|
|
- Developing Strong Policy to Support and Incentivize Integration Efforts Across the PK-12 Continuum
- Strengthening Support and Accountability for Magnet Schools and Diverse-by-Design Charters
- Enhancing Civil-Rights Enforcement Efforts Where Appropriate
- Encouraging Cross-Agency/Cross-Sector Collaboration
- Supporting Strong Civil-Rights Related Research and Data Collection at the Department of Education
- Advancing a Holistic, Student-Centered Approach to Integration
- Connecting Efforts to Increase Educator Diversity with Efforts to Increase Student Body Diversity
|
|
|
|
|
|
"Policy is, of course critical, but strong leadership that affirms the importance of school integration and the benefits of diverse schools for all children, etc. can inspire and encourage state and local leaders to act. We urge President Biden and Vice President Harris to provide that leadership."
--NCSD Policy Brief 12
|
|
|
|
JOIN AN EPIC 50 STATE CONVERSATION
Amplifying youth voice across the movement
|
|
|
We'll be reporting our progress securing participants via @diverse_schools and @EpicTheatr on Twitter, using the map to the left.
How you can help:
-
We're seeking audience members, promoters, co-hosts, and creators (described here) across the country.
- Connect us with with drama teachers, community theaters, and arts organizations in your state.
- Share this information with your network.
|
|
Keep us in the loop if you are planning to commemorate the 67th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education on May 17th! (Info can be sent to [email protected].)
|
|
CONNECT WITH THE MAGNET COMMUNITY
Virtual Policy Conference - February 10-11, 2021
|
|
Magnet Schools of America's Policy Training Conference (February 10-11, 2021) is a great opportunity to learn about the complex federal, state and local policy issues that influence magnet school programs. Hear from top members of Congress and agency officials, including Gillian Cohen-Boyer (Director of Magnet Schools Assistance Program School Choice and Improvement Programs at the U.S. Department of Education). Alex Perry (Policy Advisor, Foresight Law+Policy) will also provide an overview of the most current policy issues in the federal magnet school policy landscape.
|
|
DEADLINE THIS SUNDAY (1/31)!
Have You Heard Podcast - Graduate Student Research Contest
|
|
"Are you a graduate student whose research on K-12 or higher education is ready for the podcast limelight? Then we have 30 minutes of prime audio real estate with your name on it. Have You Heard is a biweekly education policy podcast, featuring scholar Jack Schneider and journalist Jennifer Berkshire. Seeking to move past the headlines and the talking points, the show presents important academic research in a humorous, easy-to-listen-to format. It may not be peer-reviewed, but Have You Heard does reach thousands of listeners with each episode, giving graduate students an audience many times larger than even the biggest AERA conference room."
|
|
NEWS FROM
ACROSS OUR
COUNTRY
|
|
|
In Memoriam: Gerald Nicholas Tirozzi
by Philip Tegeler
NCSD recently learned that Gerald Tirozzi passed away on November 1, 2020 in Scottsdale, Arizona.
We salute the late Gerald Tirozzi - former Commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Education - for his moral leadership and courage for not taking the easy bureaucratic path. If only all of our public officials could follow his example!
Commissioner Tirozzi had an illustrious career, as President of Wheelock College, Assistant Secretary of Elementary and Secondary Education at the Department of Education, and as the Executive Director of the National Association of Secondary School Principals.
But we remember him best for his leadership as Commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Education, where he had the courage to call out the gross inequities and segregation inherent in Connecticut’s education system in a January 1988 report titled Report on Racial and Ethnic Equity and Desegregation in Connecticut's Public Schools, The report called Connecticut’s segregated system ''educationally, morally and legally wrong.'' The report drew sharp criticism from suburban legislators, but ultimately became a foundational part of the Sheff v. O’Neill lawsuit filed by the Connecticut ACLU and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund in 1989.
Commissioner Tirozzi understood the impacts of racial and economic segregation first hand, coming up as a teacher, principal, and superintendent in New Haven, one of the most segregated districts in the state, surrounded by exclusionary suburbs.
From Susan Eaton (NCSD Steering Committee): "I first met Gerald Tirozzi when he was Connecticut's Commissioner of Education and I was a young newspaper reporter covering education in the state. Watching Dr. Tirozzi work taught me a lot about the state's politics and a lot more about integrity. He was a passionate, often outspoken champion for educational equity. I especially admired his courage to force conversations about segregation and racism in public education at a time when it was not to his political advantage. Dr. Tirozzi had considerable grit, a zillion great stories and a deep commitment to educators, children and families who worked and learned in the nation's public schools."
|
|
|
National -
-
Miguel Cardona’s Ideas About Education Were Forged in Meriden, CT. Now He Will Bring Them to Washington, D.C. by Jacqueline Rabe Thomas and Adria Watson (Connecticut Mirror, Jan. 19) - "Linda Darling-Hammond, an expert on teaching practices and currently the president of the Learning Policy Institute, said during an interview shortly after Biden nominated Cardona last month. 'He shows a deep understanding of teaching and learning and a very strong commitment to equity and the process of improving teaching that is just unusually well developed and very thoughtful. I remember thinking, ‘Wow. He really gets it.'”
-
The Dark History of School Choice by Diane Ravitch (New York Review, Jan. 14) - "How an argument for segregated schools became a rallying cry for privatizing public education."
|
|
Minnesota -
-
Gov. Tim Walz's School Spending Plan has Racial Equity Focus by Patrick Condon (Star Tribune, Jan. 25) - "'That includes proposals to tailor academic standards to be 'reflective of students of color and Indigenous students,' according to a plan summary. Another is an 'Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Center' within the Minnesota Department of Education to address systemic racism, to "ensure students receive an accurate history of Minnesota's Indigenous people" and to "develop and provide training for all school staff on anti-bias practices.'"
|
|
New York City -
-
New York Schools Are Segregated. Will the Next Mayor Change That? by Eliza Shapiro (New York Times, Jan. 29) - "'The plainest way to think of integration is that it is a proven and effective school improvement strategy,' said Matt Gonzales, the director of the Integration and Innovation Initiative at New York University’s Metro Center....Decades of research supports that view — not because there is alchemy found in diverse classrooms, but because integration redistributes resources, funding and power across schools. Mr. Gonzales said the candidates’ positions on this issue are not merely a signal of their progressive bona fides, but an essential way of understanding their approach to education."
|
|
|
|
|
|
Update:
APPLY NOW: The Marshall-Motley Scholars Program
Named in honor of the legendary civil rights attorney and NAACP LDF founder Thurgood Marshall, and iconic civil rights litigator Constance Baker Motley, the Marshall-Motley Scholars Program (MMSP) is a groundbreaking commitment to endow the South with the next generation of civil rights lawyers trained to provide legal advocacy of unparalleled excellence.
Learn more and apply here. Deadline Feb. 16.
|
|
|
|
NCSD member Derek Black was featured in a webinar from the U.S. Capitol Historical Society on the Jan. 6th Capitol attack.
|
|
|
CROSS-MOVEMENT RESOURCE LIST
|
|
|
Amanda Gorman reads her poem "The Hill We Climb": She needs no introduction after stealing the show at the Inauguration, share her poem widely!
|
|
|
Creative Strategies for Change
|
|
|
|
The Funders' Collaborative on Youth Organizing
|
|
|
|
Johns Hopkins University, Dept. of History
|
|
|
|
Learning Policy Institute
|
|
|
|
National Education Association (NEA)
|
|
|
|
Othering & Belonging Institute
|
|
|
|
|
Open Communities Alliance
|
|
|
|
Magnet Schools of America
|
|
|
|
Poverty & Race Research Action Council
|
|
|
|
Magnet Schools of America
|
|
|
|
Contact Us
National Coalition on School Diversity
c/o Poverty and Race Research Action Council
Mailing Address: 740 15th St. NW #300
Washington, DC 20005
Phone: 202-544-5066
|
|
|
|
|
|
|