RACI RAL RACIAL JUSTICE IN EDUCATIONra.nea.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Racial... · schools have...

RACIAL JUSTICE IN EDUCATION A VIEW FROM NEA STATE AFFILIATES

Annual Report to the Representative Assembly of the National Education Association

2018-2019

RACIAL JUSTICE IN EDUCATION

NEA OfficersLily Eskelsen García, President

Becky Pringle, Vice President

Princess Moss, Secretary-Treasurer

NEA Executive Committee Eric Brown

Christine Sampson-Clark

Shelly Moore Krajacic

Robert Rodriguez

George Sheridan

Hanna Vaandering

NEA Executive DirectorKim A. Anderson

NEA Racial Justice Leads

Lead NEA Officer Becky Pringle

Executive Committee Leads Eric Brown & George Sheridan

Staff Leads Rocío Inclán, Senior Director for

the Center for Social Justice

Harry Lawson, Director,

Human & Civil Rights

Merwyn Scott, Director, Community

Advocacy & Partnership Engagement

2

RACIAL JUSTICE IN EDUCATION 3

Contents

4 | CONFRONTING RACISM IN EDUCATION

5 | EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

6 | AT A GLANCE

7 | STATE AFFILIATE MEMBER ENGAGEMENT

9 | STATE AFFILIATE TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND SUPPORT

11 | STATE AFFILIATE INTEGRATION AND CULTURE CHANGE

13 | STATE AFFILIATE PARTNERSHIPS

15 | STAND AND BE A WITNESS

16 | NEA TOOLS AND RESOURCES


NEA State Affliate Participants 43 submitted survey responses

AlabamaAlaskaArizonaColoradoCaliforniaConnecticutDelawareFederal Education AssociationGeorgiaIdahoIllinoisIndianaIowaKansasKentuckyLouisianaMaineMarylandMichiganMinnesotaMississippi

MissouriNebraskaNevadaNew JerseyNew MexicoNew YorkNorth CarolinaNorth DakotaOhioOregonPennsylvaniaSouth CarolinaSouth DakotaTennesseeTexasUtahVermontVirginiaWashingtonWest VirginiaWisconsin

Wyoming

RACIAL JUSTICE IN EDUCATION4

CONFRONTING RACISM IN EDUCATION

Talking about racial justice in public education—constructively, honestly and openly—is difficult.

Condemning overtly racially hostile behavior is one thing. But silence often remains our default position when it comes to conver-sations about institutional systems, policies and practices that deny opportunities to certain students because of the language they speak, the color of their skin, where they live or their religion.

We’ve long been told our system of public education is intended to uphold equal opportunity for all students. Yet we continue to see deeply rooted disparities in which schools have the least experienced teachers, which schools have advanced courses, which schools have up-to-date facilities, computers, books and enrichment programs, which schools have discipline policies that push students out, and which schools have the best funding.

The truth is our education system was designed from its outset to ensure that some students receive an excellent educa-tion, some an OK education and others an education that is an education in name only.

If we cannot get comfortable talking about institutional and structural racism, our students will continue to be ill-served. It starts by acknowledging the belief

embedded in our society that white culture is naturally superior—even 65 years after Brown v. Board—and that other races and ethnic groups are inferior.

The moral imperative of teachers, education support professionals and all educators is to raise our voices and demonstrate boldly through our actions that our nation can no longer tolerate the reality that the ideal of equality for all is a dream unfulfilled for many.

We as educators must continually challenge and dismantle, piece by piece, the structures, policies and implicit biases we all have that prop up white privilege at the expense of students and families of color. To do anything less is to deny the world in which our students live, to concede that some students deserve less.

We have to seek the truth. But informing ourselves is not enough.

We must act to strip racial injustice in educa-tion of its invisibility and replace it with systems and policies that foster racial equity and recognize the humanity, intelligence and resilience of students of color.

Lily Eskelsen García NEA President


EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The first step in solving a problem is recognizing that one exists, goes the old saying.

The problem in this case—often unseen and unacknowledged—are the institutional and structural practices, policies and norms in public education besetting students of color.

These racial inequities range from having fewer advanced placement courses and following harsher discipline policies to chronic underfunding and the placement of the least experienced teachers in schools located in communities of color.

It is because of these entrenched systemic barriers and biases that the National Education Association adopted a 2018-2020 budget that prioritizes the advancement of racial justice in education.

This annual report provides a graphic representation of the racial justice work that NEA and affiliates accomplished from May 2018 to August 2019. It looks at member engagement; affiliate technical assistance and support; internal integration and culture change; and partnerships.

Forty-three state affiliates responded to a survey that is the basis for much of the data in this report.

The goal of this annual report is twofold: highlight the work of NEA and its affiliates in promoting racial justice in their classrooms,

schools, communities and states; and serve as a resource for members looking to learn, grow and engage on racial justice issues.

We know that no single court ruling, federal program or law are sufficient to dismantle a system that benefits one group while disadvantaging others because of the color of their skin or where they were born or what language they speak. Instead, the lasting institutional change our students deserve requires urgent collective action in which NEA, its affiliates and, most important, its members address the structural obstacles students of color face.

As educators, we cannot singlehandedly overturn the systems and institutions that deny opportunity to students of color and their families. Nevertheless, together with communities, parents, students and partners, we can develop the skills, self-awareness, knowledge and abilities to help fulfill the promise of a quality public education for all students.

With that objective in mind, it is our hope that this report captures what we have accomplished and guides us in our ongoing commitment to build a public education system that lives up to its core values of racial justice and equity.

This commitment, this responsibility defines us as educators and as an Association.


Members in all 50 states have been

engaged in racial and

social advocacy through

NEAEdJustice.org

43 states responded to

NEA survey on engaging in

racial justice/equity work

23 states (54%) use the NEA

Conference on Racial and Social Justice to support their racial justice and equity work

18 states (42%) have assigned or hired someone

to advance social and racial justice

work

NEAEdJustice.org

43STATES

AT A GLANCE

23STATES

18STATES

6


Data collected from RJE Annual Affiliate Survey, May–August 2019. Graphs depict each answer as a percentage of total responses for the question.

STATE AFFILIATE TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND SUPPORT

“In what ways have you engaged your membership to build awareness,

capacity and/or inspire action on racial justice and equity?”

TOP 8 WAYS AFFILIATES HAVE ENGAGED MEMBERS

84% Racial Justice/Equity training for members

Identified and engaged members of color/leaders of color in race equity work

Implicit Bias training for members

Developing, supporting and training a network of local leaders on racial justice

Targeted and intentional engagement with white members/leaders in race equity work

Developed/Engaged members in issue advocacy of some kind (legal advocacy, policy advocacy, developed an online petition or action drive)

Developed and disseminated content on RJE/Equity principles – via conference programming, tool development, member education programs

[ [

64%

61%

55%

50%

39%

STATE AFFILIATE MEMBER ENGAGEMENT

32% Engaged communities and/or students of color in race equity work of the Association

55%


“We have offered book study groups (for university credit) on books such as ‘Why Are All The Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?’ ” – Federal Education Association

8

“We have trained over 500 members in culturally competent classroom practice, bias, privilege, or institutional racism.” – Education Minnesota

“We have created a cultural competency curriculum that has been used to train staff. We have begun train-the-trainer sessions so that more of our staff can work with our members and school districts about this topic.” – Illinois Education Association

“Members of the KNEA Racial and Social Justice Task Force presented at the Kansas State Department of Education Recruitment and Retention Summit.” – Kansas NEA

STATE AFFILIATE MEMBER ENGAGEMENT


R E S O U R C E G U I D E

• WHY RACIAL EQUITY & JUSTICE?• TALKING RACE• TOOLS FOR ASSESSMENT, STRATEGIC PLANNING

AND ACTION

Ready to engage in racial & social

justice?

KNEA Racial & Social Justice Summit January 12, 2019

9 am-3:30 pm #KNEAjustice

“In what ways are you partnering with members, leaders and local affiliates to

advance racial justice and equity?”[ [


Raise Awareness


Ways states are participating

with members, leaders and local

affiliates

64% Working with local affiliates to continue educating and raising awareness of the effects of institutional and systemic racism 61% Racial Justice training

for state leaders

52% Racial Justice training for local leaders

48% Equity training for state leaders

41% Equity training for local leaders

48% Implicit Bias training for state leaders

41% Implicit Bias training for local leaders

48% Developing and/or leveraging state level partnerships to support the engagement of members, families/parents and communities in advancing a student–centered agenda on racial justice

18% Leveraged the bargaining process to advance racially equitable, student-centered policy/ initiatives (restorative practices, professional development, student supports)

39% Created and/or supported funding allocations for racial justice work, such as a grant program

Racial JusticeTraining

Implicit Bias Training

Funding Allocations

Bargaining Process

Equity Training

SupportEngagement



Equity training for local leaders

Equity training for state leaders

Implicit Bias training for state leaders

Implicit Bias training for local leaders

Racial Justice training for state leaders

Racial Justice training for local leaders

Bargaining for the Common Good

StrategicPlanning for racial justice/Equity

75% 75% 68%66% 66%66%52%

32%

“Hiring practices within the organization are intentionally aimed at keeping a balance of minority and white employees. Increasingly, we are seeing a shift in the leadership of the local affiliates toward minorities and the LAE BOD is over 50% minority representation.” – Louisiana Education Association

“Specifically related to hiring and employment practices, all candidate pools must include individuals from historically underrepresented categories, screening and hiring panels must include diversity. Our Diversity and Equity Coordinator sits on interview panels, and we train panels on implicit bias.” –Washington Education Association

“We are in the middle of appointing a Race Equity group that will now start to review all policies and talk about specific language changes.” – California Teachers Association

February 15 - 18Scottsdale, AZ

I am an advocate for:

2019 UNITYMidyear

#myunity19 #unitywellnesswarriors unityinc.org

Inspiring Hope. Changing Lives.

Name: ____________________________________________

Areas of work in which states want to partner with NEA


INT

ER

NA

L43%

39%

34%

30%

27%

20%

STATE AFFILIATE INTEGRATION AND CULTURE CHANGE

“We are in the process of creating a Racial Incident Rapid Response Team to work with, provide technical assistance, and support locals that have a racially motivated incident in their district or schools.” – Education Minnesota

A Conference focusing on issues and approaches to

forward social justice and gain a deeper understanding

of how to create a more equitable community

Chezare Warren Assistant Professor

Department of

Teacher Education

Michigan State University

Dorinda Carter Andrews Assistant Dean

Department of

Teacher Education

Michigan State University

“In what ways have you attempted to integrate a racial justice framework throughout your

affiliate during the past fiscal year?”[ [Committee

Changes

New Committee(s)/

Task Force(s)Established

New Business

Items

Resolutions

Strategic Planning Language

Equity Policies Developed & Implemented


INT

ER

NA

L

36%

36%

32%

30%

11%

Ways states are integrating a racial justice framework

16%

12

STATE AFFILIATE INTEGRATION AND CULTURE CHANGE

“This coming year we will be working with our newly formed Social Justice committee to coordinate professional development and engage more members in our Social Justice work.” – Nebraska State Education Association

“OEA is offering courses at our Summer Conference around equity and specifically included an Affinity Group panel to assist locals that want to pursue local support for developing their own programs.” – Oregon Education Association

Racial Equity Impact Assessment(s)

Dedicated and Ongoing Equity

Training for Leadership

Hiring/Employment

Practices

Dedicated and Ongoing Equity

Training for Staff

Dedicated Budget to Racial Justice/Equity Work

Staff Changes (dedicated position to lead racial justice work)


STATE AFFILIATE PARTNERSHIPS

50%

50%

41%

36%

36%

34%

23%

18%

“What partners and partnerships have you initiated or is the affiliate involved in that are explicitly focused on racial justice/equity?”[ [Racial Justice/Equity Focused Organizations

Organizations Serving Specific Racial Identity groups

State Education Advocacy Groups

School Board(s)

State Governmental Agencies

Joint Labor-Management Organizations

Local Governmental Agencies

Parent/Family Organizations

Faith-Based Organizations

64%


STATE AFFILIATE PARTNERSHIPS

OEA’S 9TH ANNUAL SYMPOSIUMFebruary 23, 2019

Holiday Inn – Salem3301 Market Street NE - Salem, OR

REGISTER ONLINE TODAY www.oregoned.org/symposium

Join OEA for a transformative circle consisting of organizations representing Oregon’s communities of color, educators, state level education partners, higher education advocates, parents, legislators, students and social justice groups for a very special convening centered on transformation, featuring students’ projects that highlight contributions to our schools and their cultural voices.

WHAT IS THE VISION, FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF OUR OWN RACIALLY DIVERSE FAMILIES, STUDENTS AND COMMUNITIES, OF WHAT OREGON SCHOOLS COULD BE? Spend the morning listening to our communities about their outreach efforts and hear what their vision for Oregon schools looks like.

TRANSFORMING SCHOOLSOUR

CREATING PATHWAYS TOWARD RACIAL JUSTICE FOR OUR STUDENTS

Spend the afternoon in circle conversations focusing on what our collective vision and work includes: Diversifying the educator force in Oregon Restorative discipline in Oregon schools Family-school partnerships Culturally proficient teaching and curriculum

End the day with a collective capstone, where we can explore next steps for transforming Oregon schools together.

“We are involved in the Oregon Educators Equity Advisory group that is focused on diversification of the educator work force.” – Oregon Education Association

“We work with the Equality State Policy Center and our statewide LGBTQ group.” – Wyoming Education Association

“We cultivate a strong relationship with the state Legislative Black Caucus and work closely with them on bills that help minority children and families.” – Louisiana Association of Educators

“We have worked with various partners, including the state Department of Education, various universities and national agencies (Council of Chief State School Officers) in diversifying the teacher workforce in our state.” – New Jersey Education Association

2012-2018

COMMUNITY ADVOCACY & PARTNERSHIP ENGAGEMENT

Community Advocacy & Partnership Engagement

GRANTS

94.6% OF GRANTS FUNDED COMPLETED

100% OF THEIR GOALS

CAPACITYGRANTEE EFFORTS SPREAD TO STATE AND LOCAL AFFILIATES

69 GRANTS

6 YEARS, 24 STATE AND LOCAL AFFILIATES

REACH1 IN 4 STUDENTS IN PUBLIC

SCHOOLS ARE TAUGHT BY MEMBERS REPRESENTED BY CAPE GRANTEES

CAPE GRANTSThe NEA Community Advocacy & Partnership Engagement (CAPE) Department provides state and local partnership funding grants that are intended to assist state/local affiliates to identify, engage, and mobilize community organizations and community leaders around increasing student achievement, engaging members who have participated in leadership trainings, and creating union roles to build capacity to engage community partners.

Grant considerations are made on the following strategic priorities:

• Initiatives to Improve Student Achievement, particularly in communities of color;

• Engaging NEA members who have been trained in NEA’s leadership trainings or those who have a demonstrated record of activism for the purpose of furthering social justice activism and/or professional issues activism;

• Establishing or institutionalizing new union roles related to parent and/or community engagement;

• Focus on advancing NEA’s priority on racial justice in education.

For questions, please [email protected] or visitwww.nea.org/grants/58935.htmwww.nea.org/CAPE


STAND AND BE A WITNESS

Three years ago, we voted to commit the association to a fundamental objective: advance racial justice in education.

We understood that failing to address institutional racism in public education was tantamount to telling more than half of students nationwide that they deserve no better than second-class status. We recognized that the racial inequities present in our schools could not exist without our implicit consent.

So we decided to stand and be a witness. We resolved to use our collective power, and with righteous indignation and truth demand justice for our children.

We made that decision knowing that public education is part of an interconnected system of racially biased laws, policies, practices and norms that harm our students and their families. We knew the enormity of the challenge, but we also understood that we have a responsibility to do something about it, to create the kind of schools and communities that reflect our hopes, our dreams and our values.

As this report describes, NEA, our affiliates and our members are stepping forward— boldly, unapologetically and explicitly—to dismantle the present system and improve conditions for students, families, and communities.

Whether it’s engaging and training our members, gaining awareness of our own biases, changing our internal policies or being involved in partnerships focused on racial justice, we are building toward a vision for a racially just public education system.

Together we can—and we must—continue to move forward and advocate for a public education system that fulfills the promise of providing every single student in this country the opportunity to succeed in a diverse and independent world.

There are many who came before us who laid a firm foundation, who refused to back down in the face of injustice and who earned some hard-won victories. It’s our turn now. We must demand what we know to be right.

Becky PringleNEA Vice President


Top 12 tools and resources affiliates use

NEA TOOLS AND RESOURCES

61%52%52%48%48%41%39%39%36%32%25%23%

Racial Justice Training(s)

Conference on Racial and Social Justice

Center for Great Public Schools Grants

Implicit Bias Training

NEAEdJustice.org

EdCommunities Racial Justice in Education Group

Human and Civil Rights Professional Development (Cultural Competence, Diversity, Social Justice)

Racial Justice in Education Resource Guide

Bargaining for the Common Good Resources/Support

Restorative Justice Practices/Resources

CAPE (Community Advocacy and Partnership Engagement) Community Outreach and Engagement Program

CAPE Grants



NEA EdJustice League, the activist arm of NEA EdJustice

> Recruited 5,500 members across all 50 states

> League members wrote 32,000 letters

> League members made 6,000 phone calls

> Members in all 50 states have been engaged

21 states use NEAEdJustice.org as a tool to support social and racial justice work in their state

21STATES

24STATES

24 states participated in trainings or received technical assistance from NEA’s Center for Social Justice



BLM @ SCHOOL

NEA provided affiliates and racial justice advocates a variety of tools and resources to spark a critical reflection and honest conversation about Black Lives Matter @ School. Among these were stories, a national map of downloadable activities, a pledge and social media ads.

DETENTION OF IMMIGRANT CHILDREN

Incarcerated children suffer harmful, often traumatic, effects to their emotional and mental health. At its peak, more than 10,000 immigrant children were incarcerated as a result of the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” policy. NEA, through social media ads, articles and a pledge, worked with educators and their community allies to demand our government stop incarcerating children.


DREAMERS

For the first time in 13 years, the House passed legislation that provides a pathway to citizenship for 2.5 million Dreamers, including 37,000 educators, and benefits Temporary Protected Status (TPS) recipients. To help generate pressure on lawmakers, NEAEdJustice.org promoted a petition, created social media ads featuring members who are Dreamers, and wrote articles.

LGBTQ

When Betsy DeVos announced that the Trump administration was rescinding protections for transgender students, NEA sprang into action to mobilize members and activists. Among the steps: creating a guide for supporting transgender students, circulating a legal guide on transgender student rights, running social media ads and generating a petition.


National Education Association1201 16th Street, NWWashington, DC 20036

www.nea.orgwww.neaedjustice.org

RACI RAL RACIAL JUSTICE IN EDUCATIONra.nea.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Racial... · schools have...

Documents

Transcript of RACI RAL RACIAL JUSTICE IN EDUCATIONra.nea.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Racial... · schools have...