“White privilege is your history being part of the core curriculum and mine being taught as an elective."
- Princess Best, One Common Unity
DAY FOURTEEN
Race & Education
Economically and racially divided neighborhoods are leading to inequitable educational environments and adverse academic outcomes for our youth. Studies show that children from families with lower incomes enter high school with literacy skills up to five years behind and are over four times more likely to drop out than those from higher income families. Students of color, who are more likely to attend under-resourced schools, suffer because of lack of resources and larger class sizes.
READ
Racial inequity is baked into the nation's education system in ways big and small. Black children face the most extreme hurdles to academic success. Ku Akhri af Soomaali discusses the challenges Black students face in this Seattle Times article.

She wanted her fourth grade class to understand racism. Parents said she was indoctrinating their children and wanted her fired.
LISTEN
In many parts of the U.S., public school districts are just minutes apart, but have vastly different racial demographics - and receive vastly different funding. That's in part due to Milliken v. Bradley, a 1974 Supreme Court case that limited a powerful tool for school integration.
 
Teaching to Thrive (20-40 min episodes)
Podcast hosts Bettina Love & Chelsey Culley-Love share ideas that strengthen the everyday lives of Black and Brown students within our schools and communities. Each episode is aimed at empowering our knowledge for collective liberation.
WATCH
KING 5 examines the educational system and what we can do to give kids a fair shake. The so-called school to prison pipeline funnels mostly kids of color out of classrooms and into courtrooms, and it starts with discipline. According to state data, in Washington, 52.5% of students are white, and 4.4% are Black. However, in the 2018-19 school year, 8.3% of Black students were suspended or expelled for a discipline-related incident, which is more than twice the rate for white students (3.4%). Those same students kicked out of school often end up in jail, which has been a problem for generations.
 
Why should a good education be exclusive to rich kids? Schools in low-income neighborhoods across the US, specifically in communities of color, lack resources that are standard at wealthier schools -- things like musical instruments, new books, healthy school lunches and soccer fields -- and this has a real impact on the potential of students. Kandice Sumner sees the disparity every day in her classroom in Boston. In this inspiring TEDx talk, she asks us to face facts -- and change them.
NOTICE
Does the diversity of teachers at your child's school
mirror student demographics?
 
If you want to know more about why and how this makes a difference for Black children, check out this episode of Malcolm Gladwell’s podcast. There are some delicious nuggets in there about how schools can support Black students' achievement and the influence that having a Black teacher has on a Black student's education.
CONNECT
Who's in your feed?
Teaching While White - Teaching While White | Twitter | Facebook
PUT IT TO USE
Engage - Visit Washington Education Association to learn about their commitment to ensuring that "Every student in Washington has a safe and welcoming environment in order to learn."
 
Act - Urge schools to integrate diversity into the curriculum - teachers can help educate students on racism, incorporating diversity and inclusion into their curriculum.
 
Reflect - Think about your own education:
  • When was the first time you had a teacher who was not the same race as you? Did you ever?
  • Did you have toys and books that looked like you?
  • What were the messages that you received from American history books about cultures other than your own?
United Way of Thurston County solves complicated issues by convening community stakeholders and collaborating to develop short and long-term strategies. United Way is an excellent steward of donor dollars and is committed to transparency, accountability and sound fiscal management. United Way mobilizes the caring power of our community. Learn more: https://www.unitedway-thurston.org/

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