Education
Op-Ad – Black Educators Reject Trump, Call on Biden to Embrace Obama-Era Education Policies
There was a point in that messy first presidential debate when Black folks were spectators as three old White men — Pres. Donald Trump, Joe Biden and the moderator, Chris Wallace — talked about African Americans in a discussion of race in America from a white perspective.
What was on full display at that moment was how Black Americans can be completely side-lined in a dialogue about our own future. How would a conversation on race in America that white men centered on law enforcement and white supremacy be different if it had been led by Black people?
In answer to Chris Wallace’s question, “Do you believe that there is a separate but unequal system of justice for Blacks in this country?” Joe Biden responded, “Yes, there is systemic injustice in this country in education, in work, and in law enforcement and the way in which it is enforced.” We agree.
To be clear, those of us who want to end Trump’s reign of terror are voting for Joe Biden to be the next president of the United States. But that does not mean Biden gets a free pass when it comes to issues of Black concern.
Amid the systemic injustices perpetrated against Blacks in this country, Biden listed America’s inequitable education system first. Yet, Biden has embraced a traditional view of public education without critique or nuance to garner the support of America’s largest teachers’ unions — American Federation of Teachers and National Education Association.
Despite Blacks being under-educated and over-policed in our nation’s schools, he has walked away from Barack Obama’s education agenda that increased education funding while challenging the status quo to improve. Obama understood the urgency of Black parents who couldn’t wait for the system to right itself and expanded options for our children within the public school system, including high-quality public charter schools.
Nearly 90% of Black Democratic primary voters support expanding access to more public school options, including charter schools. Has Biden stepped over Black voters to ingratiate himself with white progressives? Is that trade-off worth it? Biden doesn’t have much room for error. The parents of 3.3 million charter school children could make a difference in swing states with razor-thin margins if they turn out for Biden.
It is imperative for Biden to speak directly to the interests of Black communities. It wouldn’t take much for him to signal that “his” Democratic Party is a big enough tent for educators on both sides of the divide to come together for this crucial election. After all, as Biden said, he is the Democratic Party.
Black people have always had to fight for what we need to survive in this country. The rules aren’t created with us in mind to ensure that we have the tools to build a life in pursuit of the happiness promised to all Americans under the Constitution.
Our hope is that Biden will build and improve on the Obama-Biden legacy of investing in an ecosystem of high-quality public school options for students and families to receive the education they deserve.
Editor’s note: This op-ed was co-authored by the following education leaders: Dr. Margaret Fortune, CEO, Fortune School, California; Dr. Steve Perry, founder and CEO, Capital Preparatory School, Connecticut/New York; Dr. Howard Fuller, professor emeritus, Marquette University, Wisconsin; David Hardy, founder, Boys Latin School of Philadelphia, Pa.; and Rev. Alfred Cockfield, founder and executive director, Lamad Academy Charter School in New York.
Activism
Lend A Hand Foundation Celebrates 25th Anniversary
Lend A Hand Foundation Celebrates 25th Anniversary at the Scottish Rite Center in Oakland. On stage: KTVU Fox 2 Broadcasters Roberta Gonzales and Dave ClarkDance-A-Vision Founder, Carla Service, Vice Mayor Kimberly Mayfield-Lynch, California State Assemblymember Mia Bonta and Lend A Hand Foundation Executive Director Dee Johnson with the Dance-A-Vision Dancers. Photo By Carla Thomas
By Carla Thomas
The Lend A Hand Foundation (LAHF) celebrated the 25th anniversary of the organization’s Stay In School Program on May 9 at the Scottish Rite Center in Oakland.
Themed “Together We Can Empower Our Youth to Stay in School,” the event featured a pre-event reception featuring Oakland’s Kev Choice Ensemble.
The ensemble featured Oakland School for the Arts student, Ayo Brame, a 16-year-old, up-and-coming tenor saxophone jazz musician. The master and mistress of ceremonies were local broadcasters Dave Clark and Roberta Gonzales of KTVU Fox 2. Clark’s wife, Lucretia also supported the program.
A special appearance featured Dwayne Wiggins of Tony! Toni! Toné! on guitar, performing the group’s hit song “Anniversary” as guests dined on salmon, chicken, beef and vegetarian entrees prepared by the Food Network “Chopped” Champion, Chef Rashad Armstead of Oakland. California State Assemblymember Mia Bonta (D-Oakland) provided the keynote address and the Carla Service Dance-A-Vision youth dancers energetically performed a hip hop routine throughout the audience in white leotards as attendees clapped along. An auction led by Auctioneer Franco Finn assisted in raising funds for the organization with prizes that included a luxury resort vacation and other items.
LAHF presented District 5 Alameda County Supervisor Keith Carson and District 4 Alameda County Supervisor Nate Miley with Lifetime Supporter Awards. LAHF presented the Trailblazer Award to Guy Richardson of Ernst and Young; Dante Green of Kaiser Permanente; Antioch Attorney Gordon Greenwood of the Kazan McClain Partner’s Foundation; and Sarah Yoell of PG&E.
Oakland Unified School District Superintendent, Dr. Kyla Trammel Johnson acknowledged LAHF’s impact.
“Each year, LAHF gives backpacks and school supplies to thousands of students across Oakland,” said Johnson. “In 2022 the effort topped 25,000 students. No matter the need, big or small, involving lots of students or just one, Lend A Hand is always there ready to make a difference in the lives of our young people.”
Founder and executive director of LAHF Dee Johnson took the stage as the DJ played the Sledge Sisters’ “We Are Family.”
Guests gave Johnson a standing ovation as she thanked supporters and presented many of them with gifts.
“It’s heartbreaking to know some children don’t have clothes or supplies for school,” said Johnson. “The babies really need our support and when we deliver supplies to them, it makes them really happy.”
Since the LAHF Annual Stay in School Program began in 1999, it has provided over 150,000 educational school supply kits to students throughout Alameda County, including Oakland, Berkeley, Emeryville, and San Leandro, among other cities.
“This past August, we provided for over 12,000 students with supplies, with the help and support of our very generous donors,” said Johnson. “This year, we aim to do all we can to match that amount or provide even more.”
For more information visit: www.LendaHandFoundation.org
Community
Dasia Taylor: A Girl’s Powerful Success Story Is Inspiring the Next Wave of STEAM Leaders
Dasia Taylor’s journey began as a young girl in high school in her AP chemistry class. Her teacher at Iowa City’s West High School had just asked which students wanted to try out for the school’s science fair team. Taylor volunteered. At the time, Taylor was a high-school junior focusing on the humanities. She was already overcommitted as a member of the student senate, her district’s diversity and equity committee, and an array of other “anti-racism initiatives.” Her family had no history of participating in science fairs – and no desire to attend one, as she wasn’t really into science. However, Taylor says her life and decisions are guided by a simple rule: “Be curious.”
By Tamara Shiloh
Dasia Taylor’s journey began as a young girl in high school in her AP chemistry class. Her teacher at Iowa City’s West High School had just asked which students wanted to try out for the school’s science fair team. Taylor volunteered.
At the time, Taylor was a high-school junior focusing on the humanities.
She was already overcommitted as a member of the student senate, her district’s diversity and equity committee, and an array of other “anti-racism initiatives.” Her family had no history of participating in science fairs – and no desire to attend one, as she wasn’t really into science. However, Taylor says her life and decisions are guided by a simple rule: “Be curious.”
With cash prizes in the four-digit range and competitors polishing concepts and techniques since grade-school, today’s science fair projects are much more advanced than the simple papier-mâché volcanoes we used to see.
Taylor says her chances of entering the science far, let alone winning, were slim to none.
However, she won her next competition, then the one after that. Finally, she ended up in the last stage of the Regeneron Science Talent Search, the Super Bowl of high school science competitions. And the publicity resulting from her unlikely story and potentially world-changing proposal made Taylor a viral sensation, putting the bubbly 17-year-old on ‘The Ellen DeGeneres Show’, ‘PBS NewsHour’, CNN, and many other shows.
In fact, equity work was the inspiration for Taylor’s science ideas. Her medical suture, which colors beet juice to reveal an infected surgical wound, is based on research that shows that Black individuals are particularly vulnerable to post-surgical complications such as infection – and that what appears on some patients’ skin as simple signs of infection, like a red patch and swelling, doesn’t show up on darker skin.
Taylor’s suture concept, which she is trying to patent, could provide a simple low-cost fix in poor countries where infections that can easily be treated are often fatal.
Two years after her forum-moments virilization, at 19, Taylor is a college student, but also the founder and CEO of VariegateHealth, creating inclusive medical devices; and the owner of her own “head nerd brand.”
“My life’s work is helping kids embrace their inner nerd and just be their authentic selves,” Taylor says.
Through “hands-on innovation workshops,” she inspires teenagers to make science bolder. By bolder, Taylor says she means more exciting and socially meaningful.
By the time the debate wrapped up, Taylor had been chosen for the 2023 Iowa’s Woman of the Year prize by USA Today, which annually showcases creative leaders with “stories that influence their communities.”
She was featured in the collection “Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls: 100 Tales of Extraordinary Women,” which is part of the Rebel Girls series.
Through her innovative work and advocacy for STEAM education (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) programs, Taylor is proving that it’s possible for students to be curious about the issues that affect their lives, engage in learning experiences not just in the classroom but beyond, and change the world.
With this constant motivation and her focus on improving the lives of others, she has become a public speaker, and a role model for the millennial generation worldwide.
Taylor says she has a penchant for the color yellow, music and creating any rule she wants.
California Black Media
California Approves $1.3 Billion to Restructure Community Schools
The State Board of Education and Governor Gavin Newsom announced last week that they have approved $1.3 billion in grants to implement a new school initiative that offers students support outside the classroom. According to a press release dated May 8, State education officials have appropriated funds since 2021 to offer students and their families resources such as health care, mental health support, and social services.
By California Black Media
The State Board of Education and Governor Gavin Newsom announced last week that they have approved $1.3 billion in grants to implement a new school initiative that offers students support outside the classroom.
According to a press release dated May 8, State education officials have appropriated funds since 2021 to offer students and their families resources such as health care, mental health support, and social services. The State’s board awarded $1.3 billion to 288 local education agencies that fund and support 995 schools statewide.
The California Department of Education plans to mobilize resources to help students thrive in school and at home. This initiative includes summer programs, tutoring, and counseling.
Gov. Newsom said that the state is expanding community schools across the state. Students will be offered free meals twice a day, mental health counseling, and after-school programs.
“California is transforming education to make schools a place where every family and student can succeed,” Newsom said.
The state is developing the initiative as part of the California Community Schools Partnership Program (CCSPP), a ten-year plan that promotes equity and quality education for students in California. The state will spend $4.1 billion with its partners including community schools, local counties, government agencies, and nonprofits that provide health, mental health, and social services.
State Board of Education President Linda Darling-Hammond is eager to uplift communities with well-resourced schools and achieve equity in public education.
“We know children learn best when they are healthy, happy, and in a learning environment where they are surrounded by knowledgeable and caring adults attuned to their needs,” Darling-Hammond said.
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond endorsed current school programs and anticipates promising results as grants are invested in these programs.
“Our Community Schools continue to serve as exemplars of programs that educate the whole child. I am proud to see California continue to be at the forefront of recognizing that student wellness is a cornerstone of learning,” Thurmond said.
The California Department of Education will award a final round of grants to community-based organizations and schools during the 2024-2025 academic year.
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