Moving from words to actions to address systemic racism and inequities in schools was the main topic of ACSA’s virtual Systemic Racial Intolerance and Injustice Town Hall, which premiered live on Facebook and YouTube June 9 as part of the “Common Purpose, Uncommon Times” web series. ACSA Executive Director Wes Smith moderated the town hall that featured Senior Director of Equity and Diversity Adonai Mack; Elisha Smith Arrillaga of The Education Trust-West; Karla Pleitéz Howell of Advancement Project California; and Ken Magdaleno of Center for Leadership Equity and Research. Smith opened the town hall by expressing frustration at a “raw level” toward recent actions of police brutality. “We get incensed in our system,” he said. “We make statements, we bring groups together, we may sponsor legislation — or not. Then we go on to the next topic. It’s frustrating, because there is no next topic. This is the topic.” ACSA President Linda Kaminski also joined the town hall to announce ACSA’s new task force, co-sponsored with the California School Boards Association, to address systemic racism and its impacts on students and schools. Kaminski said everyone from students, parents and teachers to equity advocates can join the task force. “(We want) whoever can come to the table to help us move from words to concrete actions, so we take those steps forward and create the future all those kids deserve,” she said. Mack and ACSA’s equity partners discussed strategies to help make learning environments more equitable. Pleitéz Howell mentioned Los Angeles Unified School District’s work to create a Student Equity Needs Index. That helped the district direct Local Control Funding Formula dollars toward historically disadvantaged and underfunded schools with higher populations of black and Latino students. As a result, those schools received funding for additional counseling and were able to create math collaboratives. The panelists also highlighted the concept of approaching students with “color blindness” as an ineffective way to approach students’ identities and cultures. “I want to be looked at as someone who’s black,” Mack said. “I am a black man. It’s part of my identity. It’s who I am, and it should be celebrated.” Magdaleno added that the idea of “not seeing color” was an escape. “Saying ‘I see all students the same’ means you want to go somewhere where you don’t have to have discussions about race, equity or culture that we study and encounter on a daily basis,” he said. “In essence, what you’re doing is taking away the soul of the child.” Smith Arrillaga said race-conscious policies at all levels of the school system, such as recruiting and retaining teachers of color, were necessary to combat racism. Another vital aspect in equity and anti-racist work is unconscious bias training, said Pleitéz Howell. “When we’re giving policy recommendations for structural racism, we do a good job of staying on top of that level where we address events,” she said. “We might have conversations, or bring a convening. Those are events. They’re not getting under the surface, like individual behaviors or racial and mental models we inherited.” Mack said these problems have been pervasive for many years, and now is not the time to forget them. “I’m going to challenge myself to not let it go, to stay true to myself and the foundation on which I stand … and challenge others to step up to the plate and change the educational system to benefit the underserved,” he said.