This story has been updated. At least four Republican-led states are considering whether a new African American Studies course is in compliance with its laws that restrict lessons on race, following Florida’s ban on the proposed course last month. Officials in education departments in Arkansas, Mississippi, North Dakota, and Virginia are reviewing the advanced placement […]
K-12
Posted inEducation, K-12
‘These Kids Can’t Wait’: The Struggle to Address the Black Youth Mental Health Crisis
At first, Mira Ugwuadu felt a sense of relief when her high school transitioned to remote learning in 2020, allowing her to work on advanced placement courses at her own pace. But soon, the 17-year-old found herself studying outside of school hours, unable to separate academics from her home life. When her classmates went back […]
Posted inEducation, K-12
Florida’s Rejection of Af-Am Studies Reflects the Historical Fight for Black Education
Florida officials have rejected a new Advanced Placement course on African American Studies, calling it “woke indoctrination” that “significantly lacks educational value.” The state education board released a list of their concerns with the new course, which, like others in the AP program, allows high school students to earn college credit through an advanced curriculum […]
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How Race Became the Central Issue in Many School Board Elections
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 […]
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 […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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Racist Bullying is a Problem That Won’t Go Away Anytime Soon
The headlines read like news from the 1960s: Students at an Ohio high school hung “whites only” and “blacks only” signs above the water fountains. In Maryland, a Confederate flag was hung outside a high school. And in Florida, white students at a middle school took a photo holding up letters that spelled a racial […]
