Tuesday, November 20, 2018

CONFRONTING THE EDUCATION DEBT



...Based on data compiled for this report, between 2005 and 2017, public schools serving majorities of low-in-come students in the U.S. were under-funded by $580 billion in federal dollars alone—for programs specifically targeted at our most vulnerable children,,.  
This persistent sabotage of public schools in Black, Brown and low-income communities is evident at all levels, in local, state and federal education policy...The debt we owe these students, schools and communities is vast and growing. 

Public education itself is not the problem. Thousands of public schools across the nation have functional technology in every classroom, a well-stocked library and state-of-the-art science labs. Their young people are expected to be future leaders. There are public schools with classes small enough that teachers can individualize their instruction according to student needs. Public schools work, but only where they are fully resourced to do so. And that tends to be in white, middle class and affluent communities. 

In contrast, without comparable resources, Black and Brown students are more likely to:
• sit in crowded classrooms;3 
• be taught by first year teachers and/or by teachers who have not met basic certification require-ments;4 
• attend schools with higher teacher turnover rates;5 
• have less access to high level math and science courses (often a prerequisite for college);6
 • have less access to guidance counselors,7librarians, nurses, technology and other critical resources, and
• be removed from the classroom altogether and placed in some form of detention.

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