 |
|
|
|
|
Chancellor Curtis Ivery presents opening remarks before a roundtable discussion at "Detroit and the Future of Integration: A Policy Discussion on Education and Urban Development," hosted by the Institute for Social Progress at Wayne County Community College District.
|
This is what resistance looks like
By Elise Boddie and Philip Tegeler*
The
presidential election laid bare
the
hard reality
that
our country is
deeply divided. It also exposed an
American
electorate
willing to tolerate, if not
outrightly
celebrate
,
a candidate who embraced bigotry, misogyny, nativism and xenophobia, and who called openly for the marginalization of black and brown people.
The
shock
of the election
is all the more pronounced because
it
follows on the heels of a twice-elected black president.
Many of us already knew that the country was
in no way
"post-racial,
"
but we may
have been lulled into believing that the worst
of our history
was behind us
, e
ven as we continued to
confront
massive racial barriers
.
Early
signs
point to
troubled waters ahead
. The
new Administration
has invited into its inner circle
a propagandist of
white supremacy
and proposes to
elevate government officials who
have vigorously opposed
civil rights
.
These developments signal that the
country is moving backwards, significantly threatening the advances we have made as a community that values inclusion.
What is one to do in the midst of
this turmoil
and uncertainty about the future
?
First, we
should resist
.
R
esist
policies
that
will turn the clock back to
the
era of Jim Crow
.
R
esist efforts
that are already underway to brand
diversity and
inclusion
as
antithetical to our country's progress and prosperity. Resist fear of the other and the dehumanization of people based on their differences, whether perceived or real.
I
ntegration
of our schools
is one of the best ways we can resist the
politics of fear and division
and prepare the next generation for a more unified and just society. School integration brings children together across race and class lines
and
breaks down
the
toxic stereotypes
that drive racism. During these challenging times, we should vigorously promote and support inclusion and diversity and hold fast to the dream of a country that is racially and ethnically inclusive at last.
* Elise Boddie and Philip Tegeler are members of the NCSD national steering committee. Elise
is a Henry Rutgers University professor and professor of law at Rutgers Law School, and Phil is Executive Director of the Poverty & Race Research Action Council.
|
|
School Diversity in Action Updates
|
|
Following up on the successful "School Diversity in Action" conference last month at the Department of Education (co-sponsored by NCSD and The Century Foundation), we will be reporting in this space on the latest news and innovations from this growing network of school districts around the country that are working to build more diverse and inclusive schools.
|
Charlotte-Mecklenburg
The Charlotte-Mecklenburg school system has developed a new student assignment plan to increase socioeconomic integration in the city's schools, which have rapidly resegregated by race and class in the years after the district's prior integration program ended. The innovative new plan draws on census data to create a map of socioeconomic disadvantage for the district based on where students live. Using this map, students will then participate in a system of controlled school choice that directs students to selected schools in a way that ensures optimal levels of socioeconomic integration.
See this story from The Charlotte Observer.
St. Louis
A long-running St. Louis based interdistrict school integration program is extended to 2023-24; VICC board will consider shifting to SES-based integration program in future. See this story from St. Louis Public Radio.
|
Detroit and the Future of Integration
By Josh Bassett
Wayne County Community College District (WCCCD) hosted a national conference on integration and education and urban policy this past November 3rd, 2016, in Detroit Michigan, titled
The conference, which has developed from years of sustained efforts at WCCCD to develop and promote voluntary integration programs in Detroit/Metro-Detroit schools, with the collaborative support of leading universities and scholars, including the Civil Rights Project at UCLA/ Proyecto Derechos Civiles, UCLA; the Haas Institute for a Fair and Inclusive Society; The Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity at The Ohio State University; the University of Michigan; the National Coalition on School Diversity; (and noted others), was convened during a crucial time in the history of Detroit Public Schools (DPS) wherein the Michigan legislature is in the process of determining actual institutional frameworks of DPS following the City of Detroit's historic bankruptcy proceedings.
Chancellor Curtis L. Ivery of Wayne County Community College District and WCCCD's Institute for Social Progress and supporting partners convened the conference to highlight that policies and practices dealing with racial and socioeconomic integration should be included as major interests in these various efforts that will determine the future institutional formations of Detroit Public schools and encourage educational access and equity throughout Detroit, its metro-areas, and the state of Michigan at large.
|
|
"It's frustrating to see so few students know there even are differences. My older sisters and I lived those differences. In the words of Aaliyah, we were 'back, back, forth and forth' between the two worlds. When we lived in poorer neighborhoods, the schools were black and broke. But when we lived in more middle class and whiter areas, budgets weren't an issue because parents were able to contribute to things like field trips and computer labs."
|
On November 1st New York City released its second annual report on school diversity, as required by the School Diversity Accountability Act. Like last year's initial report, this report included demographic data related to individual grade levels and programs within schools, such as gifted and talented and dual-language programs, as well as descriptions of steps being taken to boost diversity in schools and programs citywide. This year the report also included preschool demographics, a separate, easy to read list of schools' various admissions strategies, and the promise of a larger plan in the works to improve diversity in NYC's schools.
|
|
NCSD Welcomes New Members
This month NCSD welcomes three new member organizations. Read more about our new allies below.
The National Center for Montessori in the Public Sector is
a knowledge-centered organization focused on the development and dissemination of information that can advance excellent Montessori education in the public sector. Through the creation of a tightly linked and supportive network of schools and a set of comprehensive technical support services, the Center aims to serve as both a convener of a vibrant community of practice and a provider of effective support and solutions for practitioners.
The Center for Diversity and Equality in Education at Rutgers University
is a new center for interdisciplinary research and innovative thinking on education policy. The Institute's mission is four-fold:
- to promote education reform and improvement through research, policy analysis and public discussion
- to mobilize lawyers, scholars and education practitioners to address complex and controversial issues in education law and policy in a comprehensive, in-depth manner
- to improve public understanding of these issues
- to serve as a center for learning and innovative thinking about legal and public policy issues relating to education
Being Black at School focuses on building data-driven grassroots movements b
y combining research, policy development and advocacy to influence public debate and catalyze change regarding race and education in America. Being Black at School aims to
help teachers, school boards, and students navigate tough conversations in the classroom, rally activists and advocates in standing up for Black students, and work with elected officials and decision makers to develop policies that promote equity and safety.
|
NCSD Research Brief 5, written by Roslyn Mickelson, Chancellor's Professor and Professor of Sociology, Public Policy, and Women and Gender Studies at University of North Carolina at Charlotte, has been updated as of October 2016 to reflect the most recent social science regarding the impact of school integration on students' academic outcomes.
|
|
|
- Representatives from NCSD members New York Appleseed and the Poverty & Race Research Action Council recently participated in regional stakeholder meetings held by New York State to provide input on new accountability and intervention plans as required by the Every Student Succeeds Act. Meeting attendees provided feedback on ideas developed by the New York State Education Department (consistent with the priorities articulated in NCSD Issue Brief 6), both in small working groups during the meetings and afterwards in online follow-up surveys. We encourage all our members to reach out to your respective states and seek to participate in this process. Plans are being formulated now, with states set to report to the U.S. Department of Education in March or July of 2017.
- The UNC Center for Civil Rights recently published a blog post regarding the over-reliance on substitute teachers in racially isolated schools in the Wayne County Public School district. This disparity in access to qualified teachers undermines students' educational opportunities, and appears to be a violation of the right to "the opportunity for a sound basic education" articulated in North Carolina's seminal education holding in Leandro v. State. Furthermore, Mark Dorson, managing attorney for the UNC Center for Civil Rights, and attorney-fellow Brent Ducharme, co-authored an op-ed focused on a federal civil rights complaint filed by the Harnett County NAACP and Citizens for Harnett Educational Fairness against the Harnett County Board of Education, which is currently under investigation by the U.S. Department of Education Office of Civil Rights
- New York Appleseed's Matthew Gonzales (Director of NY Appleseed's School Diversity Project) participated in a panel discussion on November 1st at Fordham Law School. Fordham Law School's Feerick Center for Social Justice hosted policy experts, practitioners, DOE officials and advocates for a full day conference to discuss the NYC High School Choice process. Three panels were convened to discuss the process, the challenges, and solutions to the inequitable access to NYC high schools. Solutions included a reduction in screened admission programs, and an increase in educational option schools; removing priority groups for schools that limit access to underrepresented students; more robust support for middle school parents; and an audit of the screening process for racial and economic bias.
|
|
U.S. Department of Education Office of Civil Rights Resume Bank
The U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights is actively looking for qualified candidates to serve as attorneys and investigators. In order to optimize chances of identifying and bringing on board the best candidates, the Office of Civil Rights at the Department of Education maintains a resume bank from which candidates may be selected for consideration to fill vacancies as they arise. Interested individuals should send a
resume to OCRJobs@ed.gov
. In the email, applicants should indicate the type of position as well as the regional office or offices for which they would like to be considered
(Enforcement Offices in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas, Denver, Kansas City, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Seattle, and/or Washington DC; the Program Legal Group in Washington DC, and/or the Resource Management Group in Washington DC).
Civil Rights Coordinators Search Tool
The U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights recently launched the first-ever
Civil Rights Coordinators
search page, which allows the public to search the names and contact information for the civil rights coordinators (Title IX coordinators, Section 504/Title II coordinators, and Title VI coordinators) of virtually every school district in the country. The coordinator contact information can be accessed through the Reporting Website,
http://ocrdata.ed.gov
(through the district characteristics page), or at a separate OCR Civil Rights Coordinators Website,
New Report: Expanding College Opportunity by Advancing Diversity and Inclusion
The U.S. Department of Education recently released a
new report advancing the administration's effort to expand college access to all students. The report includes key data evidencing the ongoing inequities and opportunity gaps experienced by student of color and low-income students, and presents promising examples of how many colleges are working to advance success for students from every background.
|
|
Other New Development in School Diversity
|
Upcoming Events of Interest
|
|
National Coalition on School Diversity
c/o Poverty and Race Research Action Council
Website: school-diversity.org
Email: school-diversity@prrac.org
Mailing Address: 1200 18th St. NW #200 Washington, DC 20036
Phone: 202-544-5066
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
