Advancement Project’s Post

Public schools are more segregated today than they were a half century ago. A Supreme Court ruling, handed down 50 years ago this week, significantly limited federal efforts to desegregate schools. But we aren't doomed to accept segregated schools as our destiny. There is still a lot that states can and should do to reverse educational inequities and create a system where all students have the support they need to reach their full potential. Our partners Brown's Promise have a roadmap for states to follow 👇 https://lnkd.in/gUNHyaN5

The Civil Rights Project/Proyecto Derechos Civiles at UCLA and the National Center for Youth Law just released a new report that Ramon Flores and I co-authored on the impact of punitive out of school suspensions on students in California, focused on the harm to the educational opportunities of homeless and foster youth of color. https://lnkd.in/gW8Pi_te According to our new research, the average rate for the state is 10 days lost per 100 students enrolled. But Black foster youth in CA lost 121 days of instruction per 100 enrolled. More than 12 times higher. The information about the loss of instructional time is highly relevant to understanding the racially disparate harm from punitive responses. Please read the report, pass it on to others and encourage educators to end the use of punitive suspensions. There are many more effective responses, and ways to train teachers and to support educators and students that deserve a much greater investment. Out of school suspensions are really non-interventions and have no research support. It's absurd to think that sending foster youth and homeless youth home is an educationally sound approach. So why do we send them home so much more than any other students?

ARE WE READY FOR THIS CONVERSATION? "For many children across the United States, access to great educational opportunities is determined solely by their zip code and, in many districts, parents and family members have gone to jail for sending their child to a school outside that boundary. These arbitrary school boundaries often correspond to redlined real estate areas, originally created as a means to segregate neighborhoods based on race and limit access to economic opportunity to those already in a position of privilege. Providing equitable access to high quality education can be a down payment on the reparations owed to communities that have been historically underserved and have yet to experience restorative justice after centuries of systemic oppression." Education Reform Now Democrats for Education Reform https://lnkd.in/eJqMVN7F

In Texas, the suspension of unhoused students from public schools persists despite federal protections and state legislation meant to safeguard their right to education. This issue disproportionately affects students of color, particularly Black and Hispanic children, reflecting broader systemic inequalities in education and society. These suspensions contribute to the school-to-prison pipeline, perpetuating cycles of poverty and disenfranchisement. It is not just a legal failure but a profound moral failing and a lack of cultural intelligence. Addressing this requires increased funding, targeted training, and robust enforcement of laws, alongside advocacy for systemic change and fostering cultural intelligence in the education system to dismantle barriers to equity. #Education #Equity #SocialJustice #DEI

Today, The Education Trust released three reports on family engagement that lay out a different vision for families to be involved with their schools in a way that, contrary to the “parents’ rights” movement, lifts up authentic and culturally responsive family engagement: https://edtru.st/3TSGUwE

🌟 Reflecting on this insightful article highlighting the impact of community schools like SJ Humanitas, it's evident that they go beyond providing external supports to shaping the very essence of teaching and learning! #CommunitySchools #HolisticEducation #visionary 📚💡

New data from CADRE shows that there was a notable drop in written complaints and mediation requests between the 2019-2020 school year and 2020-2021 when the COVID-19 pandemic altered many school services. Those numbers have now increased back to pre-pandemic levels by the 2021-2022 year.

Racialized disinvestment in our public schools is part of a strategy to dismantle education as a public good. This historical and present disinvestment and privatization are fueling mass school closures across the country, which harm Black and Brown students, communities, and our democracy. New research shows the harm to students can be lifelong. As this piece explains, "[r]esearch has shown closures disproportionately affect students of color and students from low-income families, which recently prompted two civil rights groups [Advancement Project and Southern Poverty Law Center] to request guidance from the U.S. Department of Education’s office for civil rights outlining when closures violate federal civil rights law." As the brilliant Mariame Kaba has said, "We must preserve the publicness of our schools. Do you think if public schools were presented as an option today, we would get them? Libraries? Public education, the commons, are abolitionist demands."

This is great! SJ Humanitas has been doing great work for years. The missing link in this article is the link between the their systems of support with teaching and learning? How does community schools transform what happens in the classroom? What is a community schools centered pedegogy?

Utterly repugnant. If they’re not in the media defending DV murderous former students as being ‘delightful’, they are attacking Public Selective Schools as a cynical attempt to shore up their constituency & funding support through pseudo intelligentsia off-shore populist rhetoric, all the while deflecting from the huge bricks & mortar funding gap. Why don’t they take up the issue of grossly inadequate public schools funding? Why must it be adversarial? Must we be polarised? Sobering to know at least one NSW Public Selective School has just had its building maintenance funding halved to less than 6 figures. Wake up & start being a net-contributor to all our students. Adult deficiency plain & simple. https://lnkd.in/gDC89hzz