Tag: racial equity

Advocacy Agenda for Equity 2021

Posted on by CAPTA IT

California State PTA believes that all children deserve a quality education regardless of the community in which they live, the color of their skin, their language, their gender identity, or their immigration status.

But too many California students from underserved communities are deprived of an equal opportunity to learn. This year we created an equity agenda to address the needs of all of our children. The bills the California State PTA supports are listed below by category.

Poverty, Income, and Racial Inequality

PTA seeks legislation to address poverty, and the income and racial inequities that affect millions of California families.

  • AB 27 (Rivas, Luz D) Homeless children and youths and unaccompanied youths: reporting.
  • AB 57 (Gabriel D) Law enforcement: hate crimes.
  • AB 367 (Garcia, Cristina D) Menstrual products.
  • AB 408 (Quirk-Silva D) Homeless children and youths: reporting.
  • AB 742 (Calderon D) Personal income taxes: voluntary contributions: School Supplies for Homeless Children Voluntary Tax Contribution Fund.
  • AB 1006 (Rubio, Blanca D) Foster care: social worker turnover workgroup.
  • SB 17 (Pan D) Office of Racial Equity.
  • SB 100 (Hurtado D) Extended foster care program working group.
  • AB 14 (Aguiar-Curry D) Communications: broadband services: California Advanced Services Fund.
  • AB 775 (Berman D) Public postsecondary education: basic needs of students.
  • SB 4 (Gonzalez D) Communications: California Advanced Services Fund: deaf and disabled telecommunications program: surcharges.
  • SB 532 (Caballero D) Pupil instruction: high school coursework and graduation requirements: exemptions.
  • SB 682 (Rubio D) Childhood chronic health conditions: racial disparities.
  • AB 37 (Berman D) Elections: vote by mail ballots.
  • AB 546 (Maienschein D) Dependent children: documents: housing.
  • AB 656 (Carrillo D) Child welfare system: racial disparities.
  • SB 274 (Wieckowski D) Local government meetings: agenda and documents.
  • AB 34 Muratsuchi D Broadband for All Act of 2022.
  • AB 256 Kalra D Criminal procedure: discrimination.
  • SB 79 Bradford D State parks: state beaches: County of Los Angeles: Manhattan State Beach: deed restrictions.

Early Learning

PTA supports quality childcare, pre-school and early learning for all children.

  • AB 22 (McCarty D) Childcare: preschool programs and transitional kindergarten: enrollment: funding.
  • AB 92 (Reyes D) Preschool and childcare and development services: family fees.
  • AB 321 (Valladares R) Childcare services: eligibility.
  • AB 393 (Reyes D) Early Childhood Development Act of 2020.
  • AB 1361 (Rubio, Blanca D) Childcare and developmental services: preschool: expulsion and suspension: mental health services: reimbursement rates.
  • SB 50 (Limón D) Early learning and care.
  • SB 725 (Ochoa Bogh R) Early childhood education: parent participation preschool programs.

Health and Welfare

Physical, social, emotional, and mental health needs must be met before students can thrive.

  • AB 452 (Friedman D) Pupil safety: parental notification: firearm safety laws.
  • SB 260 (Wiener D) Climate Corporate Accountability Act.
  • SB 699 (Eggman D) School climate: statewide school climate indicator: surveys.
  • AB 285 (Holden D) State Department of Education: state school nurse consultant.
  • AB 967 (Frazier D) Special education: COVID-19 Special Education Fund.
  • SB 224 (Portantino D) Pupil instruction: mental health education.
  • SB 237 (Portantino D) Special education: dyslexia risk screening.
  • SB 722 (Melendez R) Interscholastic athletics: adult supervisors: cardiopulmonary resuscitation training.
  • AB 234 (Ramos D) Office of Suicide Prevention.
  • AB 270 (Ramos D) Core Behavioral Health Crisis Services System.
  • AB 309 (Gabriel D) Pupil mental health: model referral protocols.
  • AB 586 (O’Donnell D) Pupil health: health and mental health services: School Health Demonstration Project.
  • AB 988 (Bauer-Kahan D) Mental health: mobile crisis support teams: 988 crisis hotline.
  • AB 1117 (Wicks D) Pupil support services: Healthy Start: Toxic Stress and Trauma Resiliency for Children Program.
  • AB 1165 (Gipson D) Juvenile facilities: storage and use of chemical agents and facility staffing.
  • AB 1197 (Quirk-Silva D) School meals: nutritional requirements.
  • SB 14 (Portantino D) Pupil health: school employee and pupil training: excused absences: youth mental and behavioral health.
  • SB 21 (Glazer D) Specialized license plates: mental health awareness.
  • SB 217 (Dahle R) Comprehensive sexual health education and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) prevention education.
  • SB 364 (Skinner D) Pupil meals: Free School Meals For All Act of 2021.
  • AB 48 (Gonzalez, Lorena D) Law enforcement: kinetic energy projectiles and chemical agents.

Education Funding

California’s school finance system must provide stable, sustainable, equitable, and adequate funding to meet the diverse needs of all our students, including before and after-school programs, summer school, and distance learning.

  • AB 99 (Irwin D) Statewide longitudinal data system: California Cradle-to-Career Data System: governance and support.
  • AB 1112 (Carrillo D) Before and after school programs: maximum grant amounts.
  • SB 737 (Limón D) California Student Opportunity and Access Program.
  • AB 75 (O’Donnell D) Education finance – School facilities: Kindergarten-Community Colleges Public Education Facilities Bond Act of 2022.
  • SB 22 (Glazer D) Education finance- School facilities: Public Preschool, K–12, and College Health and Safety.

Teaching

PTA supports the recruitment and development of an educator workforce that is reflective of the student population, and that all students have qualified and effective teachers delivering a full curriculum.

  • AB 312 (Seyarto R) Teacher credentialing: basic skills proficiency test: exemption.
  • AB 437 (Kalra D) Teacher credentialing: subject matter competence.
  • AB 520 (Gipson D) Teacher retention: California Diversifying the Teacher Workforce Grant Program.
  • SB 237 (Portantino D) Special education: dyslexia risk screening.

Curriculum

Instruction should be personalized, culturally relevant, and responsive.  Coursework must address racism and bias to counteract the institutional and structural biases and related traumas that often drive inequitable outcomes for students.

  • AB 101 (Medina D) Pupil instruction: high school graduation requirements: ethnic studies.
  • AB 104 (Gonzalez, Lorena D) Pupil instruction: retention, grade changes, and exemptions.
  • AB 299 (Villapudua D) Career technical education: California Apprenticeship Grant Program.
  • AB 839 (O’Donnell D) Career technical education: California Career Technical Education Incentive Grant Program.
  • ACR 49 (Choi R) Arts Education Month.
  • SB 545  (Wilk R) Pupil retention: COVID-19 impact.
  • SB 628 (Allen D) California Creative Workforce Act of 2021.
  • SB 723 (Rubio D) Pupil instruction: tutoring program: learning loss mitigation.
  • SB 70 (Rubio D) Elementary education: kindergarten.
  • AB 366 (Rubio, Blanca D) Foster youth.

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Addressing Microaggressions to Make PTAs More Welcoming

Posted on by CAPTA IT

We all want all families to feel welcome at our schools.

An active middle school PTSA was committed to including all voices in their PTSA planning. They worked with their school’s Spanish-bilingual and Chinese-bilingual family liaisons to engage the English-language learner communities at their school and to provide interpretation at their meetings. At every meeting, the Spanish-speaking and Cantonese-speaking families had interpretation and a familiar face to welcome them to the meetings. Before the meeting started, they felt included and welcome to their PTSA.

Yet, when it was time to discuss the budget and upcoming events, the PTSA Board described the events that they had planned and didn’t ask for feedback from all members at the meeting. The Spanish-speaking parents were confused. They had come with their ideas for community events and were excited to share their ideas, but, when they suggested new events or programs, the PTSA Officers asserted that they had already decided what the community events would be.

Do you think that the Spanish-speaking families returned to the next meeting?

“Welcoming All Families” is the first standard of Family Engagement in the National Standards for Family-School Partnerships. Our PTAs provide Welcome Back to School events, mentor families and many other terrific programs, strategies, and initiatives that are described in the National Standards Assessment Guide. We can make our schools even more welcoming by watching for micro-aggressions in your PTA meetings and activities.

Microaggressions are indirect, subtle or unintentional instances of discrimination against members of a marginalized group. Although they are thought of as small actions, microaggressions can have a tremendous impact. In a short PTA video, you can learn how to recognize microaggressions, respond to them and repair relationships in situations where we’ve committed them.

Continue your learning and reflection on micro-aggressions with these questions and resources.

For self-reflection:

  • Are you more often an observer, perpetrator or victim of microaggressions? What does it feel like for you in each of these roles?
  • Which of your identities (i.e., race, immigration status, language, religion, gender, sexuality, ability, household status, etc.) tend to have more “power” and could lead you to unintentionally commit a microaggression? What would it look like in those instances?
  • How does intent and impact show up in how you respond to microaggressions?
  • What has worked and has not worked when you have responded to a microaggression?

For your PTA to discuss:

  • Where have you seen microaggressions play out in your PTA? In your school community?
  • Who is affected by these microaggressions? What is the impact for these people?
  • How can you recognize, respond and repair microaggressions when they occur within your PTA?

Come to the Family Engagement Meet-up during Convention 2021 on May 14 at 4:00 p.m. to reflect on how you and your PTA may become more aware of and address microaggressions at your school.

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Leg Con 2021 Wrap-Up: Bringing Equity to California Public Schools

Posted on by CAPTA IT

This article was written by Kitty Cahalan, President of Blair School PTSA in Pasadena (First District)

“A Path to Equity” was the focus of this year’s Legislation Conference, which I attended as a local PTA leader and advocate, but also as the parent of two public high school students. Bringing equity to California public schools has long challenged our educational leaders, and the pandemic has highlighted vast inequities in the system and left millions of California students more disadvantaged than ever. From access to mental health care and meals to the widening of a vast digital divide, the conference underscored that the prospect of getting students back on track is daunting. Far from being pessimistic, however, the conference presented information and opportunities that we as parents and PTA advocates can use to disrupt ineffective old practices and bring public education into a new era in which all are included and empowered, and in which the needs of all are seen and addressed.

State Superintendent Tony Thurmond opened the conference and focused on restorative justice and increased digital access and literacy as examples of measures needed at the state level to increase inclusiveness and access for all students. President Celia Jaffe shared CAPTA’s ten recommendations for the timely and safe reopening of schools. Director of Legislation Shereen Walter shared CAPTA’s legislative agenda and the critical need for “our collective voices to influence legislation and the state budget to improve equity, access, and opportunity for all of California’s children.” Then, National PTA President-Elect Anna King shared her personal stories of witnessing how racial and economic inequities affected her own children, injustices which led directly to her involvement in PTA and her work to bring a collective voice on behalf of all children to our nation’s leaders and educational decision-makers. This was a powerful start to the conference.

Equity best practices were discussed in sessions about equity in the arts, community schools, and schools as incubators for democracy.

  • Tom DeCaigny, California Alliance for Arts Education, stated that even though the arts are shown to be effective for development of motor skills, a powerful educational tool for students with disabilities, and are mandated by the state, arts education implementation continues to fall short in districts throughout the state. DeCaigny identified PTA as a key messenger and urged coordinated messaging for the arts, especially during remote learning.
  • Michael Essien, a middle school principal, shared how adherence to the school’s North Stars – whole child, student voice, belonging and rigorous education – combined with ongoing staff training in implicit bias, as well as community partners to bring tiered interventions to students, helped the school meet students and their families where they are. When students feel healthy, safe, and included, he said, they will be ready to learn.
  • John Rogers, UCLA’s Institute for Democracy, Education, and Access (IDEA) examined mission statements and LCAPs from districts across the state, looking for indicators that districts consider themselves responsible for the civic education of their students, and found very few districts include keywords such as “democracy” and “civic participation.” Rogers encouraged participants to consider their school districts’ role in furthering democracy and to encourage students to learn how to participate in their communities’ civic lives.

Each of these speakers gave clear, actionable information for the advocates in attendance to use to further the call for equity.

The news on the budget front was encouraging, as California has an unexpected budget surplus. Budget experts discussed the state government’s priorities: addressing the digital divide, helping students who have been the most affected by the pandemic catch up, and providing for an increase in mental health services. Many of these allocations will come in the form of one-time funds and will challenge districts to rapidly deploy services to our most at-risk students. Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, pushing for the additional revenue to go to education, especially early childhood education. He said that PTA is best positioned among all advocacy groups to disrupt the layers of abstraction between what is decided in Sacramento and what is happening on school campuses. He challenged us to communicate specifically what is needed in schools. Brooks Allen, Education Policy Advisor to the Governor, made clear the breadth of the challenge – nearly two-thirds of the state’s students, about 3.7 million children, come from economically disadvantaged homes – and the state must focus on these students or the additional funds will not have the impact we wish to see.

The theme of equity echoed throughout the conference: access, inclusive approaches, and listening to all the voices in our communities. Our path toward equity requires that our local and state leaders share a coherent, unified message that puts the needs of the most vulnerable first. Not only was this message shared in multiple legislative meetings, but PTA participants left the conference with the tools to continue to forge this path forward for our students.

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Inclusive Schools Week: December 7-11, 2020

Posted on by CAPTA IT

This week is Inclusive Schools Week, celebrating the progress that schools have made in providing a supportive and quality education to an increasingly diverse student population, including students who are marginalized due to disability, gender, socio-economic status, cultural heritage, language preference, and other factors. 

When PTAs respect differences yet acknowledge shared commonalities uniting their communities, and then develop meaningful priorities based upon their knowledge, they genuinely represent their communities. When PTAs represent their communities, they gain strength and effectiveness through increased volunteer and resource support.

This week and all year long, we hope you’ll take advantage of resources from our guest commentator (below), Inclusive School Network, and National PTA to help your unit, council or district build a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive PTA.  The California State PTA Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee also recommend the following to get ongoing inclusion education updates throughout the year:

Twitter:

  • Tim Villegas, Founder & Editor-in-chief Think Inclusive  @therealtimvegas
  • Inclusive Schools Network @ISchoolsNetwork

Facebook:

  • Think Inclusive by MCIE @ThinkInclusive
  • Inclusive Schools Network @inclusiveschoolsnetwork

Newsletter to subscribe to about inclusion:

  • https://weeklyish.substack.com

Guest Commentary: Inclusive Schools Network

One observation that people around the world are sharing in the year 2020 is the importance of the word ‘Inclusion’.  We have chosen our new theme in recognition of at least three ways in which a greater appreciation for inclusion, as a philosophy and as a way of life in our schools and community, has emerged.

First, the Inclusive Schools Network publishes the annual theme as a way of bringing students, educators, families together to celebrate the accomplishments of schools in increasing the membership of students with disabilities as full members of their school communities.  Our celebrations balance appreciation for the progress that has been made with an honest evaluation of the hurdles that remain.  Each year, the joyous examples of inclusive practices in schools around the world lift our spirits and increase our commitment to reaching a day when “inclusion” is fully embedded in our collective humanity.

As this year has progressed, we have an unusual vantage point for understanding an even broader meaning of inclusion.  Across the world, we are experiencing a new form of isolation that is required in response to the coronavirus pandemic.  Schools, shops, recreational facilities, and even basic outlets for direct social interaction are closed. We are now familiar with a new term: social distancing.  For our own safety and the safety of others, we wear masks and restrict our outings and opportunities for gathering together. In the not too distant future, we will be able to celebrate our resilience in the face of difficulty and experience the joys of being included in a community that learns, plays, and works together.

Finally, on a worldwide basis, we have seen the true meaning of inclusion in the struggle for social justice.  When we recognize the deep and, yes, inclusive meaning of the inherent right of every individual to be equal in the eyes of society, the law and in the opportunities life offers, we can appreciate that the movement to gain inclusion for children with disabilities is the same promise that must be realized for all!

Through our celebration of Inclusive Schools Week, December 7-11, 2020, let’s make certain that our definition of the term ‘inclusion’ is broad enough to encompass all aspects of the opportunities before us.  The Inclusive Schools Network’s website has activities for celebrating each remaining month of this year and provides schools and communities with another vehicle for learning, growing and recognizing “The Time for Inclusion is NOW!”

The Inclusive Schools Network (ISN) is a web-based educational resource for families, schools and communities that promotes inclusive educational practices. This resource has grown out of Inclusive Schools Week™, an internationally-recognized annual event created by Education Development Center, Inc. (EDC) and now sponsored by Stetson & Associates, Inc. ISN’s mission is “to encourage, embolden and empower people to design and implement effective inclusive schools, by sharing insights and best practices and by providing opportunities for connection.”

The ISN provides year-round opportunities for families and educators around the world to network and build their knowledge of inclusive education.

Book Review: “The New Jim Crow,” by Michelle Alexander

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The CAPTA Legislation team is in the process of reading and discussing one book a month on the topic of the African American experience in the U.S. We decided to do this to educate ourselves about this pertinent and important issue. Our first two books were How To Be an Antiracist by Ibram Kendi and The Color of Law by Richard Rothstein. Our third book is The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander.

The book asserts that the War on Drugs and resulting mass incarceration of African Americans is “The New Jim Crow.”

Author Michelle Alexander contends that there is no truth to the notion that the war on drugs was launched in response to the crack cocaine epidemic. The war on drugs was announced in 1982, before cocaine use became an issue. At the time, less than 2% of the public viewed drugs as an important issue. The Reagan administration hired staff to publicize the emergence of crack cocaine in 1985 as a strategy to build public and legislative support for the war on drugs. Eventually there was a surge of public concern, but it did not correspond to a dramatic shift in illegal drug activity but instead was the product of a carefully orchestrated political campaign.

In less than 30 years, the U.S. penal population exploded from around 300,000 to more than 2 million, with drug convictions accounting for the majority of the increase. Our incarceration rate is 6 to 10 times greater than other industrialized nations. There are more people in the U.S. in jail today for drug offenses than were incarcerated for all reasons in 1980. The vast majority of those arrested are African Americans charged with relatively minor crimes. Arrests for marijuana account for 80%. People convicted of drug offenses now constitute the single largest category of people in prison.

Why? What happened?

According to the author, few legal rules constrain police in the war on drugs.

The Supreme Court has eviscerated the 4th Amendment (protection against unreasonable searches and seizures). The Court has upheld the constitutionality of unwarranted search and seizures for suspected drug offenses. In addition, laws were passed that gave law enforcement agencies the ability to keep cash and assets seized during a drug arrest. Huge federal grants were given to law enforcement agencies willing to make drug law enforcement a top priority. Millions of dollars in federal aid was offered to state and local law enforcement  agencies to wage the war.  So long as the number of drug arrests increased, federal dollars continued to flow.

And who was targeted for this profitable war? The Black population.

It is estimated that 3 out of 4 young Black men can expect to serve time in prison for a drug offense. Despite the fact that studies show that people of all colors use and sell illegal drugs at remarkable similar rates, in some states Black men have been admitted to prison on drug charges at rates 20 to 50 times greater than white men.

What has been the actual effect of the war on drugs?

Although it is common to think of poverty and joblessness as leading to a life of crime, the research cited in this book suggests that the war on drugs is a major cause of poverty, chronic unemployment, broken families, and crime in the African American community.

Being in prison is not the only problem. Today a person released from prison has scarcely more rights and arguably less respect than a freed slave. There is no public assistance, the job market is bleak for convicted felons, and they are barred from serving on a jury. They are shunned by all. Shame and stigma follow jail time. Severe isolation, distrust and alienation are created by incarceration.

Prison sentences and the resulting felon label pose a much greater threat to urban families than actual crime itself. As a crime reduction strategy, mass incarceration is an abysmal failure. It is largely ineffective and extraordinarily expensive. Prison creates criminals; it doesn’t help anyone or change them or give them a chance to redeem and recover.

The point of this book is to stimulate a much-needed conversation about the role of the criminal justice system in creating and perpetuating racial hierarchy through mass incarceration.

By reading and discussing the books on our list, the members of our Legislation Team are learning and understanding many of the factors that are impacting families of color and look for ways that we can advocate for change in the best interest of all children and families.

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