American Rescue Plan: Organizing for Equity | Schott Foundation for Public Education

American Rescue Plan: Organizing for Equity | Schott Foundation for Public Education

American Rescue Plan: Organizing for Equity 

The scale of the broad federal funding in the American Rescue Plan (ARP) presents an opportunity for transformative change – but only if funds are invested to address systemic racism and advance equity. This requires sustained organizing to ensure accountability and community participation to direct investments – and ongoing, transparent structures to incorporate community input.

This page offers resources to support that organizing, some Schott has developed, and many more gathered from partners. It’s information to understand components of ARP, and to provide insights into how communities across the country are mobilizing.

We encourage you to add to this collaborative hub—email materials and links to communications@schottfoundation.org .

How much money will go to my state and district?

Over the past year, Congress has allocated billions to states and districts in three major acts: June 2020’s CARES Act, December 2020’s CRRSA, and March 2021’s American Rescue Plan (ARP). While those bills funded many things, the education portion of those bills are considered “ESSER” funds. So CARES education money is “ESSER I”, CRRSA’s is “ESSER II”, and ARP’s is “ESSER III”. CONTINUE READING: American Rescue Plan: Organizing for Equity | Schott Foundation for Public Education

COVID-19, the educational equity crisis, and the opportunity ahead - ,The Brookings Institution

COVID-19, the educational equity crisis, and the opportunity ahead

COVID-19, the educational equity crisis, and the opportunity ahead

As the one-year anniversary of campus closures due to COVID-19 passed last March, nearly half of America’s children were 

attending schools operating remotely or open only on a hybrid basis. In California, more than 70% of students were attending schools that were fully remote.

But spring brings new hope. Amid steps to ensure safe health practices and the acceleration of vaccinations, the rates of transmission have decreased from earlier peaks in the winter and students are beginning to return to school.

While the return of students to campus is something to celebrate, it is essential to note that the pandemic and related prolonged school disruptions have and will continue to have a profound impact on the lives and learning of students.

Due to inequitable access to health care, income inequality, and disproportionate employment in high-risk, “essential” jobs, low-income, Black, Latino, and Native American communities have borne the brunt of the pandemic, with dire health and economic impacts that hinder their children’s educational opportunities and learning. It is difficult for children to learn if they are sick or hungry, or if they have family members who are sick or even dying. Some students have found themselves without a safe, stable place to live, lacking basic necessities, and disconnected from needed services and supports when schools—a primary avenue for public service delivery—closed for months on end. CONTINUE READING: COVID-19, the educational equity crisis, and the opportunity ahead

Recommendations for a restorative restart

1. Center relationships. • Connect 1:1 with every family and every student to build partnerships, trust, and communication between families and educators. • Create dedicated time and space for relationship-building and re-engagement. • Implement positive and restorative discipline practices.

2. Address whole-child needs. • Conduct regular student wellness screenings. • Assess student learning and review data on attendance, engagement, grades, and stakeholder perceptions about school conditions and climate. • Create an action plan to meet the individualized whole-child needs of every student, by addressing student trauma, implementing community schools strategies, and better aligning services within schools and districts to meet students’ diverse needs.

3. Strengthen staffing & partnerships. • Pair students with high-dosage tutoring and mentoring. • Provide mental health supports. • Offer expanded learning opportunities, including those in the summer and in out-of-school time, that are hands-on, fun and engaging, student-centered, and complementary to classroom learning. • Staff up to support student re-engagement by hiring new staff, liaisons, and community partners.

4. Make teaching & learning relevant & rigorous. • Advance racial equity and cultural responsiveness through instructional materials and books. • Advance racial equity in teaching through providing all educators with professional development opportunities and strategies and tools. • Offer students choice and voice in their learning. • Focus on priority standards and lessons to accelerate rather than remediate learning.

5. Empower teams to rebuild & reimagine systems. • Create restorative restart and transformation teams so that this work is systematized and continues long term. • Establish a districtwide vision and framework for transformational and systemic change.

COVID-19, the educational equity crisis, and the opportunity ahead

CURMUDGUCATION: VA: Is This The Path To Math Equity

CURMUDGUCATION: VA: Is This The Path To Math Equity

VA: Is This The Path To Math Equity

Virginia is working on a new "math path," and conservative news outlets have gone off.

The initiative itself is loaded with the usual bureaucratic argle bargle, like

Through collaboration with other stakeholders across the Commonwealth, the VMPI state task force will make suggestions for institutional changes that will strengthen the alignment between K-12 and higher education mathematics while ensuring that students are better prepared for college and career success.

The goals include math jargonny ones like "Empower students to be active participants in a quantitative world" and ed-speak ones like "Encourage students to see themselves as knowers and doers of math" and also worthwhile ones like "Improve equity in mathematics learning opportunities." 

Fox and Breitbart and the Washington Examiner and a host of other stars in the right wing constellation are upset because, in its current form, the plan eliminates advanced math coursework in the early grades. 

The handwringing is calculated to stir the usual audience members. Out of the five goals and CONTINUE READING: CURMUDGUCATION: VA: Is This The Path To Math Equity

A New Children’s Fund – Reducing Student Inequality Through Allegheny County Council | gadflyonthewallblog

A New Children’s Fund – Reducing Student Inequality Through Allegheny County Council | gadflyonthewallblog

A New Children’s Fund – Reducing Student Inequality Through Allegheny County Council

Public schools are not funded fairly.

Every child does not receive equitable resources or even close to what they need.

The state and federal government provide some funding, but they leave it up to each neighborhood to take the brunt of the burden.

So the majority of funding comes from local tax revenues – rich communities give their kids more than enough and poor ones struggle to give them enough to even get by.

This means things like class size, access to tutoring and remediation, extracurricular activities, advanced placement courses, field trips, counseling, even access to a school nurse often depends on how rich of a community kids live in.

It’s a backward and barbaric way of supporting children – a kind of economic Darwinism that gives the richest kids the most advantages from the very start while holding back everyone else.

It doesn’t have to be this way, but don’t look to the state or federal government to fix it.

No matter who has been in power in the Oval Office or held majorities in Congress, national lawmakers don’t seem to care much about public schools unless it has to do CONTINUE READING: A New Children’s Fund – Reducing Student Inequality Through Allegheny County Council | gadflyonthewallblog

There Can Be No Equity without Community and Empathy – radical eyes for equity

There Can Be No Equity without Community and Empathy – radical eyes for equity

There Can Be No Equity without Community and Empathy

[D]espite overwhelmingly good intentions, most of what passes for intercultural education practice, particularly in the US,
accentuates rather than undermines existing social and political hierarchies.

PAUL GORSKI, GOOD INTENTIONS ARE NOT ENOUGH: A DECOLONIZING INTERCULTURAL EDUCATION

A split second of awareness kept me from stepping into my apartment’s elevator, the floor covered in vomit, recently.

I thought about this moment yesterday while standing in that same elevator filled with an unpleasant smell as I also noticed a new orange-brown stain on the floor.

A week or so ago, I was unloading two bicycles from my car rack, going up and down the elevator and walking through the enclosed garage of the complex a couple of times. I encountered twice a women with her small dog on a lease, and in both cases, she paused while the dog urinated on a steel beam in the garage.

It isn’t uncommon to see dog dropping scattered down the hallway carpet in this complex either.

Having lived almost four decades in my own homes before becoming an CONTINUE READING: There Can Be No Equity without Community and Empathy – radical eyes for equity

Parent Advocacy Group Seeks Equity For Sacramento Students — The Sacramento Observer

Parent Advocacy Group Seeks Equity For Sacramento Students — The Sacramento Observer

Parent Advocacy Group Seeks Equity For Sacramento Students

(WORDINBLACK.COM) – The Center at Sierra Health Foundation announced this week the launch of the Parents Advocating for Student Success (PASS) Program to engage parents and families for educational equity for all students in Sacramento City Unified School District (SCUSD).

The PASS Program is funded for two years and will train, empower, and support parents on school campuses to increase and facilitate parent engagement, prioritize parent concerns related to their child’s education, collectively advocate for solutions to improve student achievement, and ensure the healthy social and emotional development of all children. 

The center this week releases a request for qualifications for local community organizations to manage and create the program’s final design with parents, with input and participation from existing community organizations and parent coalitions.

“Parents — or any positive, caring adult in the lives of students inclusive of parents, caregivers, extended family members, and guardians — have always been among the most committed advocates for the needs of children,” said Chet P. Hewitt, president and CEO of Sierra Health Foundation and of the center. “The PASS Program will be an additional resource for families to articulate their visions for student success and for all allies who care about kids to move forward positive change throughout the district.”

The project was announced at a press conference at Hiram Johnson High School in collaboration with a PASS Coalition of organized families of SCUSD students, community-based organizations, labor unions, business organizations, and civic leaders. SCUSD the past several years has faced numerous major financial and administrative challenges, resulting in educational inequity for CONTINUE READING: Parent Advocacy Group Seeks Equity For Sacramento Students — The Sacramento Observer

The American Rescue Plan: A First Deposit Toward a Racial Equity Stimulus | Schott Foundation for Public Education

The American Rescue Plan: A First Deposit Toward a Racial Equity Stimulus | Schott Foundation for Public Education

The American Rescue Plan: A First Deposit Toward a Racial Equity Stimulus

The $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, passed by both houses of Congress and signed by President Biden, is a watershed moment. That such legislation has become law — that our federal government acted decisively with a bill targeted to aid low- and middle-income families — evokes equal parts inspiration and relief in its radical departure from previous trickle-down approaches that have increased inequality and racial injustice.

The Rescue Plan is a desperately needed life preserver for countless Americans, but what does it mean to be pulled from treacherous waters onto a leaking ship? As the end of the pandemic appears on the horizon and the federal government, states and localities rightfully deploy their fiscal resources to move the country forward, we must ensure that the society we return to isn’t the same inequitable and unjust outcomes we left in 2019.

A Racial Equity Stimulus framework on the order of $10-12 trillion is what’s needed to properly tackle the structures of white supremacy built into our society, and the Rescue Plan proves two things: one, that far-reaching reforms can be made a reality; and two, that such reforms are widely popular with the American people.

The history of the United States is punctuated by transformative moments led by visionary acts of government: Reconstruction, the New Deal, the Great Society. These moments weren’t brought forth by unique, superhuman officials. They may be catalyzed by a crisis, but they are shaped by organizing and demanding change, and policymakers willing to rise to the occasion. In addition to the past year’s historic mass racial justice mobilizations, mutual aid and elections, the passage of the Rescue Plan is yet more evidence that we find ourselves in just such a transformative moment. What we must do now is CONTINUE READING: The American Rescue Plan: A First Deposit Toward a Racial Equity Stimulus | Schott Foundation for Public Education

Foundation Leaders Should Use Their Cash and Connections to Advocate for a Federal Racial-Equity Stimulus | Schott Foundation for Public Education

Foundation Leaders Should Use Their Cash and Connections to Advocate for a Federal Racial-Equity Stimulus | Schott Foundation for Public Education

Foundation Leaders Should Use Their Cash and Connections to Advocate for a Federal Racial-Equity Stimulus

Originally published in The Chronicle of Philanthropy.

With the stroke of a pen less than a week after his inauguration, President Biden did something no amount of philanthropic dollars could accomplish. He signed four executive orders to combat racial inequity. In quick succession, these measures strengthened anti-discrimination housing policies, ceased new federal contracts with private prisons, increased tribal sovereignty, and initiated government efforts to fight xenophobia against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.

These were just first steps toward the administration’s larger efforts to promote racial justice in the United States, but they should send a signal to philanthropy: All the increased giving to address systemic racism, as welcome as it is, can never substitute for the power and purse strings of the federal government. Nor should it.

Instead, philanthropic leaders should heed the words of President Franklin Roosevelt when a prominent labor and civil-rights activist urged him to take bold action against the Depression-era economy: “Go out and make me do it.”

At the same time, as philanthropy increases its own investments in racial equity, it can use its influence to insist on the bold solutions and government spending needed to close deep racial disparities in wealth, health, and education and put an end to discriminatory policies and practices in our criminal-justice system.

That bold action should stop at nothing short of a major federal racial-equity stimulus package.

Historically, when our nation has faced challenges so severe that normal self-correction was nearly impossible, policy makers have infused cash into the economy to stave off financial hardship and alleviate American suffering.

A little over a decade ago, the more than $800 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act helped pull the country out of the worst economic crisis since the Depression. The Biden administration’s $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package, if passed by Congress, will bring total federal pandemic stimulus spending to nearly $5 trillion in less than a year.

‘More Difficult Than Rocket Science’

Eliminating 400 years of systemic racism certainly deserves a targeted economic stimulus of its own. Achieving such massive change requires a significantly greater level of resources than philanthropy has at its disposal. During the Clinton CONTINUE READING: Foundation Leaders Should Use Their Cash and Connections to Advocate for a Federal Racial-Equity Stimulus | Schott Foundation for Public Education

#JusticeIsTheFoundation: New Data on Racial Equity and Racial Justice Funding in Education Philanthropy | Schott Foundation for Public Education

#JusticeIsTheFoundation: New Data on Racial Equity and Racial Justice Funding in Education Philanthropy | Schott Foundation for Public Education

#JusticeIsTheFoundation: New Data on Racial Equity and Racial Justice Funding in Education Philanthropy

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Education is the second most-funded issue area in philanthropy. This is a broad category that includes capital campaigns for universities, measures of teacher effectiveness, and charter schools. How much of philanthropic funding is allocated to reduce inequities so that all students have fair access to a quality K-12 education? And how would we measure that with the data available? 

Funders Briefing: 
New Data on Racial Equity and Racial Justice Education Funding in Philanthropy

Thursday, February 25, 2021
1-2pm ET / 10-11am PT

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In this historical moment, many of us in philanthropy are shaping our grantmaking to better support systemic transformation and advance racial equity. Black and people-of-color led organizations have recently delivered substantial wins for racial equity in schools across the country — from reforming discipline to fighting for safer and healthier in-person learning. These wins underscore the critical opportunity to support grassroots movements who are on the front lines of advancing justice. To paraphrase Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., how can funders help "bend the arc" toward racial justice in education?

The Schott Foundation for Public Education has worked with Candid over the past several months to critically examine the ultimate measure of education philanthropy's priorities: where the grant dollars go. For the first time, thanks to this joint effort, we can view this philanthropic sector with an equity and justice lens, telling the story of what we prioritize as a sector and revealing blind spots in our collective response. This data has deepened Schott's understanding, and we invite you to learn more and join us. You can view our findings here.

You'll learn from this conversation:

1. The state of racial equity and racial justice funding for the K-12 education sector
2. The impact that current funding is — and isn't — making to support transformational and systemic change
3. Clear action steps every funder can take to deepen your commitment to funding justice 

 
Speakers:

• Dr. John H. Jackson, President & CEO, Schott Foundation for Public Education
• Dr. Leah Austin, Director of the Opportunity to Learn Network, Schott Foundation for Public Education
• Letha Muhammad, Director, Education Justice Alliance
• Edgar Villanueva, Senior Vice President of Programs & Advocacy, Schott Foundation for Public Education

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The Schott Foundation for Public Education worked with Candid to critically examine the ultimate measure of education philanthropy's priorities: where the grant dollars go. For the first time, we can assess the collective philanthropic impact of giving in the education sector through a lens of racial equity and racial justice, telling the story of what we prioritize and revealing blind spots in our collective response.

Finding 1: Both Racial Equity and Racial Justice are Drastically Underfunded by Education Philanthropy

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Racial Equity and Racial Justice: What’s the Difference?

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For the purposes of our study, we took care to parse out grants that may look similar on the face, but actually have significant differences.

• Racial equity refers to grants designed to close the achievement gap that persists between racial groups. Grants for racial equity include support for programs such as racial bias trainings for teachers or mentorship programs for Black and brown students.
• Racial justice refers to grants designed to close the opportunity gap — the underlying systemic injustices that create the achievement gap in the first place. Racial justice grants focus explicitly on empowering people closest to the problem (families and students) organizing in their communities to change the systems and structures that generate and reinforce racial inequity. Racial justice grantmaking supports building community power, supporting policy change, engaging with policymakers, building partnerships with advocates to advance racial equity.

In short, racial equity grants address symptoms, while racial justice grants address root causes by strengthening the foundation, or bedrock, of efforts to achieve equity.

Here’s a sampling of the language used in grant descriptions that were considered “racial justice”:

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Finding 2: While the Need is Growing, Funding is Shrinking

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Funding data from 2011 to 2018, indicate that overall philanthropic giving increased dramatically, growing 48%. At the same time, the proportion of philanthropic dollars for K-12 education shrunk slightly, by 7%. Funding for racial equity and justice took a hammering, shrinking by 36% in the same interval.

Finding 3: Racial Justice Funding is Unevenly Distributed

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K-12 racial justice funding is concentrated in the Northeast. The majority of dollars, 63%, went to organizations based there. Only 16% went to those located in the South and 17% to those in the West. Meanwhile, 43% of all K-12 public school students of color are enrolled in the South and 29% in the West.

In some cases, the recipients of grants spend those resources in a different region — for example, the Schott Foundation is based in the Northeast but funds organizations across the country. However, the fact that so few grant recipients are located in the region with the plurality of students of color is a serious disproportionality that Schott will examine closely in future research.

What Can Be Done?

Movements for racial justice in education are growing in a moment when, due in large part to the upheaval of the COVID-19 pandemic and the uprisings for racial justice, the future direction of public education is more open to change than ever before. Now is our chance to re-imagine and make systemic changes in education that lay the foundation for equity of opportunity for children of color, if funders across the philanthropic spectrum invest now in racial justice in K-12 education. There’s never been a more pertinent time. 

For almost 30 years, the Schott Foundation has put the struggle for racial justice at the heart of our grantmaking strategy. In that time we’ve worked closely with other funders who are looking to shift their priorities in a similar direction.

We invite you to partner with us to make the critical investments needed to help move the arc of our nation’s public education system toward greater racial justice in the years ahead. Children of color, indeed our nation’s future, depend on it.

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Methodology

Click here to download a FAQ about the methodology used in researching the philanthropic data.

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#JusticeIsTheFoundation: New Data on Racial Equity and Racial Justice Funding in Education Philanthropy | Schott Foundation for Public Education

 

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#JusticeIsTheFoundation: New Data on Racial Equity and Racial Justice Funding in Education Philanthropy | Schott Foundation for Public Education