TAKING COURAGEOUS STEPS FORWARD
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On June 15, NCSD
submitted a letter
to members of Congress urging them to support two of our policy priorities (removal of GEPA 426 anti-integration language and advancement of the Strength in Diversity Act), and reminding them of our more complete
policy agenda
. Check whether your elected officials are Strength in Diversity Act supporters here.
We offer NCSD's letter as a template for your outreach to state and local policymakers to explain why school integration is an important part of addressing racial injustice and asking leaders to effect real change.
Many people are wondering about concrete steps that can be taken now to advance school integration and racial equity in schools. As we've been watching the news, we've been particularly inspired by a few efforts, and thought you might be too:
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Milwaukee School Board members offered
a resolution asking the board to "call on community activists, elected officials and other stakeholders to work together and develop a regional plan to reduce school inequities and promote school desegregation throughout Metropolitan Milwaukee." To learn more, you can find
board meeting materials and
video (relevant discussion starting at 2:11:30).
- The fiscal year 2021 action plan for North Carolina's Leandro case, filed on June 15th, includes an action step to "amend the annual school report cards to include additional demographic information on students and staff," which will help track school segregation levels (see Section IV.D., found on pg. 10).
Please continue to keep us informed of your work and let us know if we can support you in any way.
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THREE WAYS TO PLUG IN THIS MONTH
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#1: READ FREDERICK DOUGLASS TOGETHER WITH THE CHARLES HAMILTON HOUSTON INSTITUTE (JULY 2)
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You can also learn how to host your own reading
here, compliments of Mass Humanities.
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#2: LEAN IN WITH INTEGRATED SCHOOLS
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The Integrated Schools Movement: Where We Begin (virtual workshop)
Through outreach, advocacy, and community building, Integrated Schools mobilizes families - particularly those who are White &/or privileged - to practice antiracist school integration.
We invite you to join us for a workshop that introduces you to Integrated Schools and the movement we stand with.
July 13, 2020 at 8pm EST
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#3: APPLY TO THE BRIDGES COLLABORATIVE
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The
Bridges Collaborative
is seeking 50 school districts, charter schools/CMOs, and housing organizations dedicated to addressing school and neighborhood integration in their own communities to join a two-year program for 2-5 members from each organization.
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From the Bridges Collaborative Team:
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NEWS FROM ACROSS
OUR COUNTRY
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- School Desegregation Is Crucial at This Moment, Says U.S. Senator Chris Murphy: "Systematic mistreatment of Black people by law enforcement underscores the need to desegregate schools.
"That's the argument right now from Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., one of the foremost champions of school desegregation in Congress. Murphy's legislation-the Strength in Diversity Act, which he introduced in 2019 along with Rep. Marcia Fudge, D-Ohio, and in previous years-would support local, voluntary efforts to increase diversity in schools." Read more via Education Week.
- 'Police Do Not Belong in Our Schools.' Students Are Demanding an End to Campus Cops After the Death of George Floyd:"[M]att Gonzales, director of the Integration and Innovation Initiative at NYU and a member of de Blasio's School Diversity Advisory Group, questions why schools need to be a place for bridging the gap between the police and the community. 'I don't think public schools are places to rebuild trust with the police. If we're going to continue to have a policing state and system, then police need to do work outside of schools to heal the harm that they've caused,' he says. 'I don't think using schools as a way to do that is productive.'" Read more via Time.
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- NYC - A School Segregation Process that Caused Segregation Fell Apart in Weeks: "'Trying to decide a 9-year-old's worth completely makes no sense,' said Emma Rehac, a high school senior who is part of the group IntegrateNYC." Read more via the New York Times.
Additionally, sign IntegrateNYC's petition against discriminatory screens here. And check out this op-ed by ERASE Racism's Elaine Gross in the Gotham Gazette about increasing educational equity in the midst of the pandemic.
- Michigan Right to Literacy Settlement Stands as Court Rejects Legislature's Appeal: "'It's not precedent, but it's not overturned," he said. "Its influence will be throughout the nation because of the reasoning and only those who don't think that black children's lives matter will resist it. Those words will live forever.'" Read more via Detroit Free Press.
- Segregation Has Gotten Worse, Not Better, and It's Fueling the Wealth Gap Between Black and White Americans: "But over time, O'Brien, now 37, noticed that Minneapolis seemed to have backslid on many of its commitments to integration. 'If anything, we're more segregated than we were then,' says O'Brien, a plaintiff in a class action lawsuit against the state of Minnesota that alleges that public school students are being denied an adequate education because of segregation by race and socioeconomic status in the Minneapolis and St. Paul School Districts. (The parties in the lawsuit are in mediation.)" Read more via
- Gary S. Stein: Racial Healing Begins by Admitting our Schools are Segregated: "[I]n this critical moment in which the entire nation is focused on our racial divisions, the [New Jersey] governor and the attorney general could take a giant step toward healing those divisions in our state by ending the denials that are delaying the lawsuit and admitting in court what everyone involved in the litigation already knows - that our state's schools are so badly segregated that our children are prevented from learning and interacting with children from backgrounds different from their own." Read more via the New Jersey Star-Ledger.
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COMMUNITY OF THOUGHT & ACTION
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New Video by the Center on Race, Inequality, and the Law at NYU School of Law
The Enduring Problem of School Segregation
takes a look at racially segregated schooling and how it is on full display in New York City. Hear from civil rights attorneys, experts, and activists on why school segregation continues to plague our country-and how we can fight back.
Featuring: Dennis Parker, National Center for Law and Economic Justice; Richard Buery, Jr., Achievement First; Anurima Bhargava, Anthem of Us; and Tiffani Torres, Teens Take Charge.
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The mission of the program is to prepare anti-biased, antiracist (ABAR) Montessori educators in public school environments; to increase access to Montessori training among People of Color and other historically marginalized groups; and thereby to offer relevant, rigorous Montessori education to children and their families.
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A set of resources on school policing, including a sample resolution, to assist school districts that choose to invest in strategies that create safe and supportive schools for all students and move away from school policing and other harmful approaches.
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Deadline to apply: July 27, 2020
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CROSS-MOVEMENT RESOURCE LIST
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The Century Foundation
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The Civil Rights Project at UCLA
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City Garden Montessori
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ERASE Racism
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Learning Policy Institute
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NAACP LDF
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Poverty & Race Research Action Council
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