MARCH 2018 UPDATES     Like us on Facebook View our videos on YouTube

Support the Youth Movement for Integration. IntegrateNYC will be leading a Month of Momentum (April 9-May 11) and Week of Action (May 12-May 18) for youth and organizational allies. To become an ally: 
  1. Sign INYC's constitution by painting the #StillNotEqual symbol on your hand April 9-May 18 
  2. Post the photo of your #StillNotEqual symbol on our petition page at integratenyc.org
  3. Share the symbol once a week on your social media channels to promote our campaign
To inquire about becoming an ally, email [email protected] by Wednesday, April 4th.
Quick update on NCSD's efforts to #Strike301and302

We were partially successful in our campaign to remove anti-integration language from this year's appropriations bills. Congress added language to its omnibus bill to exempt magnet schools from the anti-integration rider (see pg. 69 here). While this was a small step in the right direction, it falls short of what's needed.

Statements released by the Congressional Black Caucus and Congressman Bobby Scott are critical of this short-term fix, as are we. Their statements below, respectively: 

"First, the CBC strongly opposes an antiquated policy rider that prohibits the use of federal funds for transportation or other efforts to integrate public schools. Reports show that schools are more racially segregated than they were in the middle of the civil rights movement of the 1960's. The time has long passed to strip this racially-motivated policy rider from government spending bills."

"I am also disappointed that Congressional Republicans fought to include discriminatory education policy riders that discourage efforts to increase public school integration. I vow to fight again for their removal during the Fiscal Year 2019."

It is extremely disappointing that a majority of legislators voted in favor of the bill, knowing the rider would remain intact.

We appreciate supporters who took the time to sign our petition (we almost reached 1,500 signatures), call or write your legislators, and/or share information about the campaign.  We will keep raising this issue until the language is removed--get ready to step up again soon!

Setting the rider issue aside, we were pleased to see increased funding for the Magnet Schools Assistance Program, which received $105 million, a $7.35 million increase above the FY17 level. See Magnet Schools of America's statement here
 NCSD JOINS CHORUS GRIEVING
 LOSS OF LINDA BROWN


"The life of every American has been touched by Linda Brown Thompson....This country is indebted to her, the Brown family, and the many other families involved in the cases that successfully challenged school segregation. I mourn her passing and extend my deepest condolences to the entire Brown family."

--Sherrilyn Ifill
NAACP Legal Defense Fund

"You want to honor [Linda Brown's] memory? Her fight? Her heroism? Do something about the segregation - the separate and unequal education - that most black children still experience. Otherwise, stop pretending you honor her, because you don't."

--Nikole Hannah Jones (tweet)
New York Times Magazine

"The decision to make her the face of such a monumental case was not only an act of parental love motivated by the desire to provide her with a better education. It was also a decision to put aside personal comfort and safety in the pursuit of justice for African Americans everywhere."

--Adrienne van der Valk 
Teaching Tolerance
Earlier this week, we lost an important icon in the civil rights movement. At the age of 9, Linda Brown was one of the courageous students at the center of the landmark Brown v. Board of Education case, in which the Supreme Court declared segregation in public schools to be unconstitutional.

Linda passed away on March 25th in Topeka, Kansas. She was 75 years old. 

Here are some of our favorite reflections on Linda's legacy and the continued struggle to upend segregation and address its harms.

with Michael Barbaro and Nikole Hannah Jones
March 30, 2018 - The Daily (audio)

by Elise Boddie and Dennis Parker
March 30, 2018 - New York Times

with Audie Cornish and Sheryll Cashin
March 28, 2018 - NPR (audio)

March 27, 2018 

by Adrienne van der Valk
March 27, 2018 - Teaching Tolerance
Upcoming NCSD Events in DC:



(4/10 - 10:30am-1pm)
(4/10 - 5:00-7:30pm) 

Want to learn how to design infographics to advance your organization's mission?

N CSD will be hosting two training sessions, led by Jessica Bellamy, on April 10th.  Jessica will share her equitable design principles, then attendees will actively apply them in a hack-a-thon. Food will be provided.

A few updates from members:


Research Roundup, Feb 2018: More data on charters and school re-segregation

The School Desegregation Notebook published a blog post that summarizes new research on charter schools and school segregation. Available here





Segregation is Not an Excuse, Mr. Mayor; It's Opportunity to Lead 
by Fred Freiberg and David Tipson
March 19, 2018 -  Gotham Gazette

In this op-ed, David Tipson (New York Appleseed) and Fred Freiberg (Fair Housing Justice Center) assert that integration is neither to be dodged nor exploited. Will NYC's mayor begin to lead the nation in the way the authors suggest?

New Resources and Publications
  • The Disintegration of Memphis-Shelby County, Tennessee: School District Secession and Local Control in the 21st Century. A new case study explores the political impulses behind suburban secession from the 2013 Memphis-Shelby County merger, the largest school district consolidation in recent history. Memphis-area lessons offer insight into an increasing number of secession struggles and enrich our understanding of how educational advantage is consolidated in the 21st-century metropolis. Authored by RAP members Genevieve Siegel-Hawley and Erica Frankenberg, along with Sarah Diem.
  • EmbraceRace produced a tip sheet re: race-conscious, anti-bias early childhood education.
  • How Segregation Shapes Fatal Police Violencerecent study led by Boston University's School of Public Health researchers finds states with a greater degree of structural racism--particularly residential segregation--have higher racial disparities in fatal police shootings of unarmed victims. Related NPR story here
  • Building a Better Measure of School Quality. In this Phi Delta Kappan essay, authors Jack Schneider, Rebecca Jacobsen, Rachel White, and Hunter Gehlbach propose a framework for measuring school quality that represents a fuller picture of what people care about in a school. A longer, academic article on this concept appears here.

Learn Together, Live Together: A Call to Integrate Denver's Schools

A recent publication by A+ Colorado shows that, "by some measures, DPS is as segregated by race and class today as it has ever been." The report documents growing resegregation in Denver's schools since 1995, when the district was released from  court oversight. 

Report here and information about community meetings here.

Integration Across the Nation...

  • Milagros Arbaje-Thomas named as new executive of Boston area interdistrict desegregation program (METCO). Read more about her here.  
  • Following a spirited online debate, Will Stancil pronounces that School Segregation is Not A Myth in The Atlantic. Stancil is a research fellow at the Institute on Metropolitan Opportunity. 
  • "Mendez vs. segregation: 70 years later, famed case 'isn't just about Mexicans. It's about everybody coming together'" - see article in Los Angeles Times. 
  • NPR revisits the landmark Kerner Commission report here. ("Report Updates Landmark 1968 Racism Study, Finds More Poverty And Segregation")
  • An integration dilemma: School choice is pushing wealthy families to gentrify neighborhoods but avoid local schools - see article in Chalkbeat. (If you have ideas on how to address some of the concerns raised in this article, please engage with us on Twitter @diverse_schools.)
  • A parent boldly proclaims: "White parents need to take responsibility to integrate SF public schools" in a recent San Francisco Chronicle op-ed.
In case you missed it..




Education Panel at Kerner @ 50 Event

You can watch the education panel from the Haas Institute's recent event here. Featuring Rucker Johnson, Linda Darling-Hammond, and Jitu Brown. Moderated by Erica Frankenberg. 

This link conveniently begins with the education panel, but also includes the remainder of the program.




Charter Schools - Expanding Opportunity or Reinforcing Divides?

Martin West moderates a discussion among guest speakers Cornell William Brooks, Derek Black (NCSD Member), Alisha Thomas Morgan, and Gerard Robinson. Held at Harvard's Graduate School of Education. 

Additional information  here.




Bringing Civil Rights Research to Bear on Voucher Programs: Are the Promises Realized? 

The materials from the Civil Rights Project's recent briefing are available here. A short summary of findings can be found in the press release.





"I'm a Good Person, Isn't that Enough?"

Watch Debby Irving share her journey into understanding some of the systems that perpetuate white advantage, and the history behind them. Irving is author of Waking Up White. (Talk from 2015)

A more recent talk was hosted by First Church West Hartford. Excerpts of her presentation, which included a day of dialogue, are available here.





A beautiful video by the Mosaic Project touches on the importance of cross-cultural contact and describes Mosaic's work to build empathy and develop students' conflict resolution skills. 

Opportunities
The Center for Education and Civil Rights (CECR) seeks a post-doctoral scholar to assist with all aspects of the Center including conducting and disseminating research to a wide range of audiences; writing for media, policymakers, and practitioners; and organizing and planning national convenings and local events.  The position will be open until filled. Applications received by March 31, 2018 are assured of full consideration. 

Please direct any questions to CECR Director Erica Frankenberg at [email protected], using subject line "CECR Post-Doc."
The Poverty & Race Research Action Council is hiring an Administrative and Program Assistant. The ideal candidate will be proactive, highly organized and detail-oriented, demonstrate excellent interpersonal and project management skills, and be a strong writer. (PRRAC staffs the National Coalition on School Diversity, so the administrative and program assistant would be doing some work with us, too!)
The Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity seeking Executive DirectorEstablished in 2003, The Kirwan Institute is an interdisciplinary, engaged research institute whose mission is to create a just and inclusive society where all people and communities have an opportunity to succeed. The Institute's goal is to connect individuals and communities with opportunities needed for thriving by educating the public, building the capacity of allied social justice organizations, and investing in efforts that support equity and inclusion
Upcoming Events of Interest


04/01/18
04/30/18
"Still Separate, Still Unequal" Exhibit
Host: Charter Oak Cultural Center (see hours here)
Hartford, CT
04/07/18
Boston-Area Education for Social Justice Conference
Boston, MA
04/12/18
04/14/18
Northeast Regional Conference on the Social Studies
Host: Connecticut Council for the Social Studies
Theme: The Power of Place
Hartford, CT
04/12/18
04/13/18
School Redesign in Action
Host: New England Secondary School Consortium
Providence, RI
04/25/18
04/28/18
36th National Conference on Magnet Schools
Host: Chicago Public Schools & Magnet Schools of America
NCSD Workshop: Designing an Alumni Engagement Strategy for Magnet Schools
Chicago, IL
04/25/18
04/26/18
Emerging Best Practices: Preventing and Addressing Bias-Based Incidents in Schools (email for info)
Hosts: Boston Public Schools Office of Equity and Boston Educational Development Fund
Boston, MA
04/26/18
Reproductive Justice and the Politics of Resistance
Host: Poverty and Race Research Action Council 
Washington, DC
05/02/18
All Children, Our Future: Civil Rights and Education Conference
Host: The Leadership Conference Education Fund
Washington, DC
 
Check out our  2018 conference listing.
Please let us know of upcoming events, by emailing  [email protected].

Beyond Desegregation: Promising Practices for Diverse and Equitable Schools
Harvard Graduate School of Education

 

Reimagining Education Summer Institute 
Teachers College, Columbia University
"Color of Law" Book Tour with Richard Rothstein
Richard Rothstein continues his tour for his recent book,  Color of Law, which  uncovers a forgotten history of how racially explicit policies of federal, state, and local governments created patterns of residential segregation that persist to this day. See tour destinations and dates below.

05/02/18
4:15PM
The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America
Host: Maryland Equity Project
College Park, MD
The National Coalition on School Diversity (NCSD) is a network of national civil rights organizations, university-based research centers, and state and local coalitions working to expand support for government policies that promote school diversity and reduce racial isolation. We also support the work of state and local school diversity practitioners. Our work is informed by an advisory panel of scholars and academic researchers whose work relates to issues of equity, diversity, and desegregation/integration .
NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund * Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund   American Civil Liberties Union * Poverty & Race Research Action Council  * Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law  * Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund  * Magnet Schools of America  * One Nation Indivisible  * Southern Poverty Law Center  * Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice at Harvard Law School  * Civil Rights Project/Proyecto Derechos Civiles at UCLA  * Campaign for Educational Equity, Teachers College, Columbia University  * University of North Carolina Center for Civil Rights  * Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity at the Ohio State University  * Haas Institute for a Fair and Inclusive Society at UC Berkeley  * Education Rights Center, Howard University School of Law  * Institute on Metropolitan Opportunity at the University of Minnesota Law School  * Education Law Center  * New York Appleseed  * Sheff Movement Coalition  * Voluntary Interdistrict Choice Corporation  * ERASE Racism  * Chicago Lawyers' Committee  * Empire Justice Center  * IntegrateNYC  * Intercultural Development Research Association  * Reimagining Integration: The Diverse and Equitable Schools Project at the Harvard Graduate School of Education * Institute for Social Progress at Wayne County Community College District  * Center on Law in Metropolitan Equity at Rutgers Law School  * Equity Assistance Center (Region II) at Touro College * IntegratedSchools.org *  The Office of Transformation and Innovation at the Dallas Independent School District  * Live Baltimore * Maryland Equity Project   * Center for Education and Civil Rights  * National Center for Montessori in the Public Sector  * The Center for Diversity and Equality in Education at Rutgers University * Being Black at School * UnifiEd * The Sillerman Center for the Advancement of Philanthropy * Public Advocacy for Kids * The Metropolitan Center for Research on Equity and the Transformation of Schools * Family and Friends of Louisiana's Incarcerated Children * The School Desegregation Notebook * Temperament, Affect, and Behavior in Schools (TABS) Lab * Fair Housing Justice Center, Inc.


Contact Us
  National Coalition on School Diversity
c/o Poverty and Race Research Action Council
Website: school-diversity.org
Email: [email protected]
Mailing Address: 740 15th St. NW #300 Washington, DC 20005
Phone: 202-544-5066