Urban school students have endured a challenging year dealing with a global pandemic but they have demonstrated resilience and perseverance time and again. The students featured here - recent graduates in the Class of 2021 - have overcome seemingly insurmountable odds and have reached the stratosphere of academic excellence.
Study Shows Urban Students Mitigating the Effects of Poverty
Students in the nation’s urban schools are about 50 percent more likely to be poor, twice as likely to be English learners, twice as likely to be Black or Hispanic, and about 50 percent more likely to have a parent who did not finish high school as students in all other schools.
New Blueprint to Help Urban School Districts Spend COVID-19 Relief Funds
With the recent passage of the American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act, the 77 member school districts that represent the Council of the Great City Schools are expected to receive more than $40 billion in supplemental funding, as part of the $122.8 billion funds provided under the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) Fund.
Nation’s Big-City Public Schools Ramp Up Efforts to Vaccinate Students
When the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine was authorized for children ages 16 and older in December and then approved for use in 12-to-15-year-olds last month, urban school districts around the nation began taking a number of proactive measures to vaccinate students and contain the spread of the virus.
Kamila Vargas, a 2021 graduate of Thomas Jefferson High School in Dallas, has been awarded the $10,000 Green-Garner Scholarship, based on her high academic performance and strong character.
After the swift enactment of the American Rescue Plan in early March, the Biden administration proposed a series of legislative priorities including the American Jobs Plan for national infrastructure, the American Families Plan for human infrastructure, and an annual federal budget that accelerates investments in meeting critical domestic needs.
A newsletter published by the Council of the Great City Schools, representing 75 of the nation’s largest urban public school districts. Click here to learn more. All news items should be submitted to Tonya Harris (tharris@cgcs.org).
