69传媒

Opinion
School Climate & Safety Opinion

I Need More From My Daughter鈥檚 School Than Lip Service About Racism

Districts need to put real action behind their anti-racist statements
By Funmi Haastrup 鈥 June 11, 2020 5 min read
BRIC ARCHIVE
  • Save to favorites
  • Print
Email Copy URL

My daughter鈥檚 school district, like many other institutions, sent a letter this month addressing the protests following the killing of George Floyd, an African American man, at the knees of Derek Chauvin, a White police officer. However, nothing in the letter from our district superintendent was reassuring, transformative, or prescriptive to the traumatized psyche of Black parents who have to explain to our children鈥攜et again鈥攚hy the people who are sworn to protect and serve our communities must be approached cautiously.

While I am somewhat consoled the district addressed the issue at all, when many other institutions have been silent, I can鈥檛 help but chafe at the words that come across as though they were part of a form letter created by a PR agency: 鈥淛ust insert the name of the next murdered Black person when this happens again.鈥

I don鈥檛 need to be told to 鈥渃ontact the district鈥檚 student-support services鈥 to deal with the 鈥渟ocial and emotional needs that [my] child might be facing due to these events.鈥 I need the district to change its practices and policies to root out the inequities and racial biases that permeate schools and spill over into our communities.

I鈥檓 tired of the lip service toward racial injustice. I need my school district, and districts all over the country, to take the following actions if they are truly serious about combating racism and being a safe and supportive space for students of all races:

I need the district to change its practices and policies to root out the inequities and racial biases that permeate schools."

1. Examine policies, procedures, practices with an equity lens to root out biases that may be contributing to achievement gaps. I admit this recommendation is the toughest one, but districts should not shy away from doing the hard things when it comes to racial justice. The reality is that inequitable systems do not require deliberate discrimination. In most districts, inequities in student opportunities and performance result despite the best intentions of the school district community.

As posited in Amanda Lewis and John Diamond鈥檚 2015 book, Despite the Best Intentions: How Racial Inequality Thrives in Good 69传媒, the daily interaction of systemic structural inequalities in social (who has the connections), political (who has the authority), and economic (who has the buying power) capital can create disparities without any active malice. The unconscious biases and cultural ideologies of even well-meaning educators and staff can further exacerbate these inequities. When this happens, the goals of policies and practices鈥攅ven those targeted to support historically marginalized populations鈥攄iffer significantly from actual outcomes. This creates persistent gaps in opportunity and, ultimately, in achievement for historically marginalized student populations. Districts should conduct periodic equity audits to identify when their efforts and outcomes don鈥檛 line up. These regular check-ins can prompt districts to examine the root causes of such gaps and allow schools and communities to design realistic and sustainable strategies to closing them.

2. Hire diverse professionals for schools and the central offices. My 4th grade daughter has never had a teacher of color, and I fear she never will. Even though our school district is in the based on student demographics, White teachers make up 95 percent of the teaching staff. And the central-office staff is also disproportionately composed of White people.

Research shows that district staff, especially those who spend a majority of their time in front of students, need to reflect their communities as much as possible to set historically marginalized students up for success. The studies on the are well known. When policies and practices are being developed, there should also be a diverse coalition in the central office to advocate the needs of those typically underrepresented.

3. Provide continuous training and support on becoming an anti-racist district. Conscious and unconscious biases of staff (educators, administrators, support staff, and operations) impact the implementation of district and school institutional practices (e.g., human resources, student programs, behavior policies) to create inequitable student opportunities. Continuous training and support for all district staff will help mitigate some of these biases and help create an environment where all staff feel responsible and empowered to act against racist behaviors and policies.

4. Create real partnerships with families and communities to help students succeed. Research going back to the 1970s demonstrates that when parents are involved in education, regardless of their race, ethnicity, language, or socioeconomic status, . 69传媒, families, and communities share the responsibility for student achievement. Equitable school and district leaders look beyond traditional definitions of parent involvement as a one-way street to a in the education of their children.

The COVID-19 pandemic and the ensuing school closures have starkly exposed the need for strong school, family, and community partnerships that prioritize access and equity. In whatever form schools reopen in the fall, schools cannot go back to the surface-level engagement that characterized most family interactions.

5. Move beyond heroes and holiday curriculum to culturally relevant curriculum. Without looking at the calendar, I always know when it鈥檚 February, May, and September by the reading assignments my elementary school daughter has. That is when the heroes of African American, Asian American, and Latino histories are trotted out to the annual showcase.

According to the released by the equity education teams Equity Literacy Institute and EdChange, districts should instead work toward 鈥渟eamlessly鈥 weaving in diverse perspectives and explicitly addressing social issues as part of the curriculum. Moving from heroes and holidays to deeper curricular reform requires a thoughtful approach that includes the voices of teachers, parents, students, and other community members.

Black parents and students want their school communities to be in true solidarity with them against racial injustice. Words of platitude do not comfort or suffice. True solidarity is demonstrated in actions that root out systemic inequities and replace them with new policies and practices.

A version of this article appeared in the June 17, 2020 edition of Education Week as I Need More From 69传媒 Than Lip Service About Racism

Events

School & District Management Webinar Crafting Outcomes-Based Contracts That Work for Everyone
Discover the power of outcomes-based contracts and how they can drive student achievement.
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
School & District Management Webinar
Harnessing AI to Address Chronic Absenteeism in 69传媒
Learn how AI can help your district improve student attendance and boost academic outcomes.
Content provided by 
School & District Management Webinar EdMarketer Quick Hit: What鈥檚 Trending among K-12 Leaders?
What issues are keeping K-12 leaders up at night? Join us for EdMarketer Quick Hit: What鈥檚 Trending among K-12 Leaders?

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide 鈥 elementary, middle, high school and more.
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.

Read Next

School Climate & Safety How to Judge If Anonymous Threats to 69传媒 Are Legit: 5 Expert Tips
School officials need to take all threats seriously, but the nature of the threat can inform the size of the response.
3 min read
Vector illustration of a businessman trying to catapult through stack of warning signs.
iStock/Getty
School Climate & Safety What 69传媒 Need To Know About Anonymous Threats鈥擜nd How to Prevent Them
Anonymous threats are on the rise. 69传媒 should act now to plan their responses, but also take measures to prevent them.
3 min read
Tightly cropped photo of hands on a laptop with a red glowing danger icon with the exclamation mark inside of a triangle overlaying the photo
iStock/Getty
School Climate & Safety Opinion Restorative Justice, the Classroom, and Policy: Can We Resolve the Tension?
Student discipline is one area where school culture and the rules don't always line up.
8 min read
The United States Capitol building as a bookcase filled with red, white, and blue policy books in a Washington DC landscape.
Luca D'Urbino for Education Week
School Climate & Safety Letter to the Editor School Safety Should Be Built In, Not Tacked On
69传媒 and communities must address ways to prevent school violence by first working with people, says this letter to the editor.
1 min read
Education Week opinion letters submissions
Gwen Keraval for Education Week