FYI from BSF, 6.5.20
Some things we have read through recently...
Black Lives Matter
“Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.” (Baldwin)
Systemic racism and state violence against unarmed Black people was sanctioned, recorded, and acquitted countless times before George Floyd was murdered by police on May 25th. No one can explain why our city, country, and the world has chosen not to fully “face” this before this specific moment of history - but it is happening now.
What is to be done?
A lot, but we would like to offer one idea.
Organizations that have committed to equity should ask themselves two questions: what are our values, and what have we done and must we do to live up to those values?
From our founding, BSF has been committed to ending racial disparities in opportunity for quality schools in Boston - that is why over 6,000 Black children attend our partner schools. BSF has been committed to ending racial disparities in access to quality schools in Boston - that is why thousands of Black families have used Boston School Finder to find a best-fit school for their children, and pick that school on-time.
It was a start. An imperfect one at that. The racist and inequitable structures of Boston are diffuse, spread from education, to policing, to housing, to health, to wealth, and more.
To see the real change we need in this city, it will take continued dialogue and action - both what we do, and how we do it. For the “how,” that includes our organization’s commitment to anti-racism, diversity, equity and inclusion. As a staff and as individuals, we have significant, ongoing work to do, but we can’t be a part of the change we wish to see unless we reflect that aspirational change.
For the “what,” our work will continue to be consistent with our values: get resources to and lift the voices of the people most proximate to schools.
In that spirit, our COVID-19 series looks a little different this week.
COVID-19: School Matters
This Week: Addressing Racism, Planning for Reopening
Academy of the Pacific Rim (APR) is a 5-12 charter public school in Hyde Park. Serving 540 students, APR has a long track record of success for students and families - a 95% college persistence rate is unusually high for any school, especially given that persistence rates for Black and Latinx students are typically in the 60-70% range annually.
We had planned to discuss APR’s plan for reopening school in September, but we first discussed how schools were addressing George Floyd’s murder and aftermath. Managing the trauma of events like the past week often falls upon schools; doing so in a remote learning environment makes it that much more difficult.
Spencer (Executive Director) and Priti (Chief Academic Officer) let us try something a little different. Rather than transcribing the interview, we are sharing the tape. It is unscripted, so it certainly doesn’t capture all of the work the entire APR community is doing to address racism and reopening school in September - you can see some links to more information/artifacts below.
But it does show how thoughtful the APR community is. And we hope it conveys the gravity school leaders and teachers are holding right now, and their obligations to their communities.
Commitments for Teaching and Learning at APR
Guiding Principles Drive our Planning
Notes in the Margin
There are many resources out there, but Teaching Tolerance, a project of the Southern Poverty Law Center, has a well-earned reputation for materials for schools to address race and racism.
Superintendent Cassellius was interviewed this week, and touched on schools reopening, getting a response from other leaders, including some questioning reopening. Boston high school seniors are done today.
Well-designed tutoring programs have been shown to be effective to improve student learning. What about in remote learning or counteracting the COVID-19 slide?
A teacher gives his perspective on trauma needs for students.
It may be “infrastructure week” for schools some time in the future. A GAO report paints a grim picture of American school buildings, even before upgrades needed for COVID-19 accommodations.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics presented some devastating effects of COVID-19 on employment in schools. In March-April, over 1.2M jobs in early child care, public education, and private education were lost (that is ten times the number of teacher jobs lost in the entire Great Recession). Layoffs and furloughs have been announced everywhere from Pittsfield to Brookline. Boston’s school budget remains unchanged for FY21.