As the year ends, we are looking back at the many challenges and the fierce organizing — and equally fierce love — that our partners brought to meet them.
In the early days of March, educators in St. Paul were on strike: not just for better wages, but for more special education support, smaller class sizes, bilingual teachers’ aides and mental health teams in every school. In coordination with allied community groups, the four-day strike ended with wins on many of their demands. But even then, under a growing cloud of concern for the spread of COVID-19, few recognized how utterly transformed our schools and society would become in the space of a few short months.
COVID-19 was the deadly gust of wind that exposed just how rickety the social safety net is, especially in communities of color. But, as has happened in previous disasters, people stood up with masks on our faces and courage in our hearts. Countless justice organizing groups, from Puerto Rico to Los Angeles, Little Rock to Boston provided masks, food and other essentials to residents in need. All while keeping their organizing and advocacy underway.
In the wake of George Floyd’s and Breonna Taylor’s murders, many of these groups escalated their efforts against the epidemic of police violence on our streets and the negative presence of police in our public schools. #PoliceFreeSchools went from a hashtag to a rallying cry for a nationwide campaign to public policy change in many cities. And that effort is growing every CONTINUE READING: 2020 Taught Us to be Ambidextrous. | Schott Foundation for Public Education