Amplifying the fight for equity despite roadblocks

www.acsa.org

Association of California School Administrators

From the ACSA President, Erin Simon

February 6, 2023

First and foremost, happy new year to ACSA members, staff and allies. It’s an honor to continue to serve and work alongside you as your ACSA president.

It goes without saying that the past two years in public education have been stressful and difficult to contend with. Districts across California are facing a crisis like no other. School boards are facing increasing threats beyond the long-lasting effects of COVID-19 and superintendents are departing their posts, a result of extraordinary challenges faced by district leaders. Moreover, the numbers in California districts are all going in the wrong direction. Districts in California are facing steep declines in enrollment, elevated levels of chronic absenteeism, lower test scores (particularly for students of color and those from lower income families), and a worsening shortage of teachers, instructional aides and school bus drivers. The cascading issues that have heightened during each phase of COVID-19 have left school and district staff grappling with elevated levels of stress, anxiety, fear and worry.

The question is: How do we build a stronger foundation to change equity in education when students, teachers, administrators and parents are emotionally drained? Although the pandemic is still here, we must continue to be reminded of our why and continue to march for students with the concept of equity.

As COVID-19 continues to create uncertainty in education, we must move at a faster pace to give each youth a chance to succeed and narrow the opportunity gap for students of color and marginalized students. It will take a collaborative culture and collective responsibility to foster an ambitious educational experience for historically underserved and marginalized students by ensuring they have the educational resources and support based on their individual needs rather than the needs of all students.

To be clear, the pandemic didn’t create equity issues in our school communities. It intensified them. The pandemic did not constrain educational opportunities and widen opportunity gaps for students of color, and historically underserved and marginalized students. Such constraints are historical and have been here for hundreds of years, long before COVID-19. The pandemic did not create teacher, instructional aide and school bus driver shortages. Those existed long before the pandemic.

It appears public education is in a long-term crisis; however, if we can rebuild community-education relations, if we can rebuild trust with parents, caretakers and families, if we can fulfill the promise of education where each student, no matter their ZIP code, can learn in a high-quality and meaningful environment, public education will not only come out stronger, but has a real chance to move forward and thrive. Students need to be able to bring all of who they are into the classroom — their identities, experiences, language practices, values, interests, routines and more, while being seen, valued and heard.

Fulfilling the promise of education will call upon all of us to move with a stronger sense of cohesive urgency. We must shoulder the load together and make hard pivots if we are going to make impactful gains for the betterment of students, particularly students of color, and historically underserved and marginalized students. Districts must delve deeper into equitable practices, such as creating academic pathways to ensure each student has full access to a rigorous, culturally responsive education and will graduate future-ready with choices and opportunities.

The concept of educational equity is not to shame students or educators who do not identify as people of color. Its purpose is simply to strengthen cohesiveness and community by honoring the diversity of students, while also offering equal access to high-quality and meaningful learning opportunities by student gender, race, social class, creed, language, immigrant status, etc.

Equity in public education is not a buzzword nor is it a word that should be feared. It is rooted in providing each student with what they need to move forward and thrive as a contributing member of this society. Students have patiently waited for us to be united about our commitment to fulfilling the promise of education. Time’s up! We must further educational equity to address persistent learning and achievement gaps. We must amplify our fight for equity. We must stand united.