NCSD Update (March 2021): IS Podcast Feat. Heather McGhee; Sec. Cardona to Keynote MSA Nat'l Conference

MARCH 2021 UPDATES

NEW EPISODE: Featuring an interview with author Heather McGee. Her journey took her across the country for conversations with all sorts of people, and led to the new book, The Sum of Us, which has been on the New York Times Bestseller's list since was released. Integrated Schools was also honored to make an appearance in the book. Listen here.

Also from Integrated Schools:

UPCOMING - Webinar: How We Show Up, Part 1: Join IS for an in-depth conversation about how we, as parents or caregivers with racial or economic privilege, work to center anti-racist integration when we arrive in integrating schools. You'll laugh! You'll cry! You'll hear first-hand stories of PTA paralysis, Recruitment Rollercoasters, the Ketchup Squirter, and more. April 19, 8 - 9:30PM EDT/ 5-6:30PM PDT. Register here.

ICYMI: From mid-March, Andrew Lefkowits of Integrated Schools chats with law professor and NCSD Research Advisory Panel (RAP) member Elise Boddie. Listen here.

THE WHITE SUPREMACY VIRUS

We are saddened by the tragic loss of life in Atlanta, GA. NCSD shares in the outrage and grief that this moment warrants.

It is clear to us that the anti-Asian and xenophobic sentiments that have come from the highest levels have fed the uptick in violence and vitriol aimed at the Asian-American community. It is a time not for allies but co-conspirators who, amongst other things, will take on racism, xenophobia, and misogyny in all their forms.

Related Links:

NCSD Member Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) Press Release

AAAJ Statement: A Community-Centered Response to Violence Against Asian American Communities

Article: Responding to Anti-Asian Violence and Georgia Shootings (Learn for Justice)

Article: After Atlanta: Teaching About Asian American Identity and History (Learn for Justice)

Virtual Event: National TRHT Emergency Town Hall: Responding to Anti-Asian Violence (Dallas Truth, Racial Healing, & Transformation)

Ways to Engage:

Attend a "Bystander Intervention to Stop Anti-Asian/American Harassment and Xenophobia" training from Asian Americans Advancing Justice (AAAJ) Atlanta.

Donate to the cause via AAAJ.

RIDES ANNUAL CONFERENCE

The RIDES Annual Conference (via Zoom) will be a highly interactive, hands-on opportunity to engage with educators in schools, districts, and other organizations that support diversity, equity, and integration in their schools.

The goal is for attendees to leave with a refreshed vision for their work based on expert insights, research, and current practices, as well as strategies to build capacity for integration efforts at their organizations.

Concurrent sessions will share the latest practices and approaches for disrupting educational inequity, with a particular focus on what has been learned about the challenges and opportunities of sustaining race and equity work during the twin pandemics of the past year.

JOIN AN EPIC 50 STATE CONVERSATION

Amplifying youth voice across the movement

Join us for our next screening of Nothing About Us on April 17th, leading up to our Fifty State Conversation on May 17th (the anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education). Get your zoom ticket for April 17th at 7pm ET here.

Help us get the word out about this collaboration with Epic Theater Ensemble and Dodd Human Rights Impact (UCONN):

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.

Is your organization planning to commemorate the 67th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education on May 17th?

We'll be keeping track of programming movement wide. Email your details to gchirichigno@prrac.org. Stay tuned!

MEMBER UPDATES

Update:

Research Advisory Panel member and co-director of CECR Erica Frankenberg worked with the Education Week Research Center to examine demographic changes in roughly 30,000 public schools across America’s 25 largest metropolitan areas between 2006-07 and 2017-18:

Suburban Public Schools Are Now Majority-Nonwhite. The Backlash Has Already Begun (Education Week)

The ‘Dramatic’ Demographic Shifts Reshaping Suburban Schools: 7 Key Data Points to Know (Education Week)

Update:

Lawsuit Challenging N.Y.C. School Segregation Targets Gifted Programs by Eliza Shapiro - "'This is the first case in the nation to seek a constitutional right to an anti-racist education,' said Mark Rosenbaum, one of the lawyers suing the city and state.

Mr. Rosenbaum, the director of Public Counsel Opportunity Under Law, a Los Angeles-based pro bono law firm, is joined on the case by prominent civil rights lawyer Benjamin Crump, along with the law firm Sidley Austin and IntegrateNYC, a youth-led integration group."

Update:

IDRA launched a free webinar series: Equitable Practices for Online Learning.

The recordings are/will be available as well. Topics so far include:

Equitable Practices for Teaching Online – March 20, 2020
Digital Divide: Connectivity, Infrastructure and Devices – Held Tuesday, March 24, 2020
Tools & Tips to Alleviate the Homework Gap – Tuesday, March 31, 2020

Update:

Federal Action Removes Long-Standing Obstacle to School Integration by Janel George - "Federal support is vital to helping districts fulfill Brown’s promise of access to quality educational opportunities...These initiatives were effective—particularly when they received federal support. And the impact was significant for students attending integrated schools."

Update:

METCO joined with a racial justice group from one of its suburban partner districts (Newton Families Organizing for Racial Justice) to host a panel discussion on "Segregation and Suburban Schools," which you can view here.

METCO's youth leadership internship program B.E.A.T. (Boston Equity Action Teams), in which eight Boston high school students researched the history of school segregation including the origins of their own METCO program, was featured in a Boston Globe piece: In exploring the history of educational inequity, METCO students find echoes of the present.

Update:

Press Release: LDF Seeks Additional Relief on Behalf of Black St. Martin Parish Students in School Desegregation Case - “Despite the consent order’s requirement that the school board reduce disparities in discipline and graduation rates, Black students remain twice as likely to be removed from classes and dropout,” said LDF Senior Counsel Monique Lin-Luse. “The school board must fulfill its promise of ensuring fairness and equal educational opportunities for all children.”

Update:

PRRAC latest policy brief proposes that HUD and the Department of Education should coordinate efforts to bring economically and racially diverse magnet schools into these newly revitalized public housing communities.

HUD’s most important public housing redevelopment tool, the Choice Neighborhoods Initiative, was designed “to help transform high-poverty, distressed neighborhoods into mixed-income neighborhoods with the affordable housing, safe streets, and good schools every family needs.”

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NEWS FROM

ACROSS OUR

COUNTRY

National -

The Lingering Legacy of Redlining on School Funding, Diversity, and Performance by Dylan Lukes and Christopher Cleveland (The Annenberg Institute at Brown, March. 2021) - "We find districts and schools located today in historically redlined neighborhoods have less district-level per-pupil revenues, larger shares of Black and non-White student bodies, less diverse student populations, and worse average test scores relative to those located in A, B, and C neighborhoods."

Connecticut -

It’s Time to Fulfill Sheff v. O’Neill’s Legacy and Reform Connecticut’s Zoning by Thomas Broderick (Connecticut Mirror, March 11) - "The true legacy of Sheff v. O’Neill is straightforward: as long as housing and school districts are linked, we can’t build a more vibrant and just state until we tackle exclusionary zoning. Let’s use the 25th anniversary of this landmark case to propel us towards a better Connecticut."

Indiana -

South Bend School Official Warns of 'Unintended Consequences' of Proposed Disannexation by Carly Lanich (South Bend Tribune, Feb. 26) - "House Bill 1367, which advanced to the state Senate last week, would provide a new mechanism for John Glenn to seek disannexation of the South Bend Community School Corp.’s Greene Township without the South Bend district’s cooperation or approval."

Iowa -

Opinion: History Happens in Iowa, and We Should Teach It by Stefanie Wager (Des Moines Register, March 24) - "Alexander Clark, a prominent African-American leader, sued when his daughter wasn’t allowed to attend a public school in Muscatine. The case went to the Iowa Supreme Court in 1868 and led to school integration many years before the U.S. Supreme Court reached the same conclusion in Brown v. Board of Education."

Massachusetts -

She Experienced Busing in Boston. Now She’s the City’s First Black Mayor. by Ellen Barry (New York Times, March 23) - "At 11, Kim Janey was bused into a neighborhood where Black students were pelted with rocks. As acting mayor, she hopes to help Boston step out of the shadow of that era."

At Boston’s Public Exam Schools, it’s Equity vs. Privilege by Marcela Garcia (Boston Globe, March 5) - "A new system, based on grades, test scores, and ZIP codes, which would ensure that more students from underrepresented areas would gain entry, was put in place. Then, on Feb. 26, came 14 parents who filed a lawsuit challenging the temporary admissions rule, arguing it discriminates against white and Asian American students in Boston. These families are taking issue with the part of the new plan based on ZIP codes. They argue in the suit that the new admissions plan 'violates equal protection.'"

Lawyers for Civil Rights Boston Press Release from coalition of Black, Latinx, and Asian American community organizations and families of color intervene to defend equity in Boston's highly selective public schools

NAACP Boston's statement on lawsuit: "[W]e will not allow our communities to be pitted against each other; rather, we are committed to working in unity to ensure all students, particularly Black, Latinx, Asian American, low-income and working-class families, who have been systematically denied opportunities, have more equitable access to fully-resourced and highly desirable schools."

Related: Opening the Doors at Elite Public Schools by Melissa Bailey (Hechinger Report, March 17): "Exam schools loom large both as symbols of opportunity and inequality in American public schools. Now, the nation's twin crises are shaking them to the core."

Michigan -

90 years Before Brown v. Board, a Detroit Teacher Worked to Desegregate Schools Michigan Radio - NPR, March 24) - "In 1867, the Michigan Legislature added desegregation to state school legislation. Detroit area schools were chartered differently, however, and didn’t feel the need to abide by these new rules. A court case, Workman v. Detroit Board of Education, quickly made its way up the Michigan Supreme Court. It began after a Black man, Joseph Workman, tried to enroll his son in the school near their home, a school which Workman’s taxes helped pay for. [Fannie] Richards was part of the efforts to bring the case up."

Minnesota -

St. Louis Park School District Would Extend Gifted and Talented Programming to All Students by Seth Rowe (Sun Sailor, March 2) - "District leaders plan to replace the programs with 'a new strengths based anti-racist talent development program for all,' according to a presentation to the St. Louis Park School Board Feb. 22."

New Jersey -

Pleasantville Residents to March Against Proposed Absecon School Split by Seth Rowe (The Press of Atlantic City, March 20) - "Pleasantville residents on Sunday will march to Absecon in protest of an attempt by its neighbor city to “de-regionalize” from Pleasantville High School."

New York -

4 Things to Know About the Next NYC Schools Chancellor by Kay Dervishi (Chalkbeat, Feb. 12) - “The reality is, you know, segregation exists, and I'm not going to shy away from the importance of really looking at the inequities around admissions processes and really pushing forward for ways we can create opportunities and access for all students,” she said after de Blasio announced her appointment."

Fordham Urban Law Journal: Volume 48, Number 2 (2021) Segregation and Inequality in New York City Schools
Reimagining Public Education Equity after COVID-19: Will Public Voices from New York's Epicenter Be Heard over the Siren Song of Billionaires? by Natalie Gomez-Velez

Disabling Language: The Overrepresentation of Emergent Bilingual Students in Special Education in New York and Arizona by Emma Curran Donnelly Hulse

Making School Integration Work in New York City: A Long-Term Solution to the Enduring Problem of Segregation and Inequality by Allison Roda, Ryan Coughlan, Paul Tractenberg, and Deirdre Dougherty

Effective School-Integration Mobilization: The Case for Non-litigation Advocacy and Impact by David Tipson, Rene Kathawala, Nyah Berg, and Lauren Webb

What COVID-19 Is Revealing about NYC Schools: Are We Learning Our Lessons by Benita R. Miller and Anne Williams-Isom

Washington, DC -

Report: ‘We All Want What’s Best For Our Kids:’ Discussions of D.C. Public School Options in an Online Forum by Vanessa Williamson, Jackson Gode, Hao Sun (Brookings Institution, March 29) - "The results suggest that if there is a market for schools in the District, the commenters on DC Urban Moms are participating in a highly segregated version of it. A large percentage of schools in the District are almost never discussed on the forum, and those rarely mentioned schools have higher rates of poverty and serve students that are almost exclusively Black."

CROSS-MOVEMENT RESOURCE LIST

What I Learned During the Pandemic: 17 Students, Kindergarten Through High School, on their Schools, Their Teachers, Their Families and Their Country by Marin Cogan (Washington Post, March 16)

Rep. Jamaal Bowman Sees Climate As The Next Big Education Push After COVID-19 Reopenings by Alexander C. Kaufman (HuffPost, March 13) - “To Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.), that spending looks more like triage than investment. On Saturday, the first-term congressman is set to unveil a $1.16 trillion proposal to fund climate-friendly retrofits at every K-12 public school in the nation, hire and train more teachers, and beef up funding for low-income and disability-focused programs."

Opinion: The Coronavirus Made the Radical Possible by Rachel Cohen (New York Times, March 11) - “The public has a genuine but brief window over the next few months to make America a fairer, more just and more humane place. If people recognize that, seize that and demand that, they could reshape this country for decades."

From Raising Anti-Racist Kids to Being an Anti-Racist Family by Courtney E. Martin (The Nation, March 9) - "This is generational work. Which means that showing up at protest marches and posting on our social media are meaningful but not nearly enough. We must employ what Martin Luther King Jr. called 'creative maladjustment': doing what our parents and friends think is maybe a little too extreme and very much unexpected."

I’m a School Psychologist Trained for Tense Situations. Too Often, Schools Call the Police Instead of Letting Me do My Job. by Alexandria Lockhart (Chalkbeat, March 2)

UNC Law ‘Critical Race Lawyering Civil Rights Clinic’ to Leverage BLM Movement by Bob Friedman (Attorney at Law School Magazine, Jan. 2021) - "The UNC School of Law established the first ‘Critical Race Lawyering Civil Rights Clinic’ in the country this past fall. It will teach students how to merge the theoretical frameworks offered by critical race theory with lawyering practice."

JOB OPPORTUNITIES

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Learning Policy Institute

Director of Federal Policy
Policy and Research Intern (DC, CA)

Mosaic Project

Administrative Director

National Education Association (NEA)

Federal Lobbyist

NAACP LDF

Various Positions

Othering & Belonging Institute

Summer Fellowship

MARK YOUR CALENDARS

The Magnet Schools of America presents four days of virtual conversations, workshops, and celebrations!

April 27 - 30, 2021

Join more than 1,000 of your peers online at MSA’s 38th National Conference for sessions on best practices in curriculum and instruction, technology integration, leadership, and magnet school design.