The impending midterm elections could have a dramatic impact on several hot-button issues, from reproductive rights to immigration. But further down the ballot, another battle is brewing. In school board elections, contentious matters of race and identity have become defining issues in many local campaigns. Conservative groups have been funneling money into school board races […]
Giulia Heyward
Posted inEducation, K-12
The Unintended Consequences of Brown v. Board of Education
When the U.S. Supreme Court deemed segregated schooling unconstitutional in 1954, the landmark decision become a symbol of racial progress. But the ruling came with a hidden cost: the dismissal of tens of thousands of Black teachers and principals as white school staff poured into previously all-Black schools and were promoted into leadership roles over […]
Posted inEducation, Student Loans
What More Student Loan Relief Would Mean for Black Borrowers
The news that Americans will see thousands of dollars wiped from their federal student loan debt has been met with elation by many — but disappointment by others. The Biden administration announced last month that it will forgive $10,000 to $20,000 per borrower, an unprecedented move to ease the nation’s student debt crisis. But those […]
Posted inEducation, Student Loans
Does Biden’s new student debt plan do enough for Black Americans?
President Joe Biden announced on Wednesday that the federal government will forgive thousands of dollars in federal student loan debt for each borrower, and will extend the freeze on loan payments through the end of this year. Borrowers who make $125,000 annually or less will see $10,000 in federal student loan debt wiped clean. That […]
Posted inEducation, Student Loans
‘It’s Untenable’: The Unequal Burden of the Student Debt Crisis
The pause on student loan payments is scheduled to end Aug. 31, and millions of Americans are contending with the prospect of another burdensome monthly expense. Dozens of Democratic lawmakers have publicly called for a seventh extension on the payment freeze, and many experts believe that the Biden administration will oblige. But for Black Americans, […]
Posted inEducation, Higher Education
America’s Latest Attack on Black Wealth: Student Loans
Aug. 31 could be a pivotal day for millions of Americans: the end of a two-year payment freeze on student loan repayment. Since March 2020, when the pandemic first thrust the nation into economic uncertainty, Americans with outstanding student loans have been able to bypass their monthly payments without accruing interest or late fees. For […]
Posted inEducation, K-12
Why It’s So Hard for Schools to Teach About Slavery
The Texas Board of Education received national attention this summer when a group of eductors proposed a monumental change to the state’s second-grade social studies curriculum: introducing slavery as “involuntary relocation.” The board rejected the proposal, but the incident is only the latest controversy surrounding how slavery is taught in American schools. Classes have held […]
Posted inEducation, K-12
What Overturning Roe V. Wade Means for the American Education System
The national childhood poverty rate reached record lows just before the pandemic. The share of children living below the federal poverty line dropped from 22% to 14% over the previous decade, with Black and Hispanic children benefiting most from the decline. The economic downturn in 2020 reversed that trend — and the overturning of abortion […]
Posted inEducation, K-12
Why Some Teachers Are – and Aren’t – Teaching Their Students About Juneteenth
A last-minute piece of legislation from the Biden administration made Juneteenth a federal holiday a year ago. The sudden change on June 17, 2021 — two days before the holiday — left many institutions unprepared. But this year, observances of Juneteenth have been seen coast to coast, and many schools have followed suit. The new […]
Posted inEducation, K-12
Becky Pringle: The Black Woman Representing Teachers Across the Country
Many Americans learned Becky Pringle’s name for the first time last week, when she testified about the nation’s gun violence epidemic in front of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform. Pringle, president of the National Education Association, recounted the stories of several deadly shootings that have struck schools nationwide recently, including last month’s massacre […]