Great Education Colorado Student Newsletter June 2020 Education as an Equalizer

JUNE 2020, ISSUE 2

Student Section EDUCATION AS AN EQUALIZER

What's Inside: "The Myth of the Great Equalizer: Where We Are and What Needs to Change" by Whitney Toutenhoofd Where We Stand - A guide to Colorado's broken system of education funding Q&A with students

STUDENT SECTION

JUNE 2020, ISSUE 2

THE MYTH OF THE GREAT EQUALIZER: WHERE WE ARE AND WHAT NEEDS TO CHANGE

BY WHITNEY TOUTENHOOFD

I am a student in Boulder Valley School District, and our public high schools are thought of as some of the best in the state. We can boast of high standardized test averages, sports participation, and graduation rates. Most of our teachers love their subjects and are really great at what they do. However, there is a dark underbelly to this facade of success: the achievement gap between the wealthiest and the poorest students in the district is one of the widest in the state. Despite touting high stats, the ugly truth is that many students are still falling through the cracks; Boulder Valley isn’t meeting the needs of all its students adequately.

Horace Mann, a pioneer of American public schools, called education “the great equalizer of the conditions of men, the balance wheel of the social machinery.” Sadly, the American public education system has not lived up to that ideal. In fact, in Colorado, our system of funding allocation actively perpetuates racial and socio-economic educational inequalities, leaving those already struggling further and further behind.

A system in which the primary source of education funding for a district is local property tax is inherently racially discriminatory, and it maintains racial segregation in communities across the state. Cities whose residents’ property values are very low are unable to accrue the funds to pay for high quality schools. Without the incentive of good schools, communities struggle to attract new residents, and so property values stagnate, and the cycle continues.

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JUNE 2020, ISSUE 2

THE MYTH OF THE GREAT EQUALIZER: WHERE WE ARE AND WHAT NEEDS TO CHANGE In the case of Colorado, as state dollars continue to dwindle, local taxpayers bear more and more of the burden of funding schools, and inequality pervades.

Students of color are impacted disproportionately by state cuts — more than 41% of students in Colorado qualified for free and reduced lunch in 2019, and 89% percent of those students are students of color. These figures are expected to worsen because of coronavirus.

Colorado already spends about $2,700 less per pupil than the national average. Now, schools face a possible reduction of another $800 per student. The repercussions of these cuts will be drastic. For example, Englewood Schools, a district where 62% of students qualify for free and reduced lunch, is considering cutting its AVID program, a nonprofit college readiness system that helps thousands of students get into college each year, and 10 full-time staff members.

Fortunately, Fair Tax (Initiative 271) would be a step in the right direction for Colorado. If passed, half of the $2 billion raised by creating a fair tax code would go toward increasing pay for teachers and student support staff. Furthermore, 95% of Coloradans would get a tax cut.

We have a lot of work ahead of us if we ever want to see the day when education is truly the great equalizer. Complacency is not an option — if we stand by and do nothing while education funding continues to be cut, disparity and injustice will persist. Now is the time for us to truly confront systemic racism and together take steps toward meaningful change.

STUDENT SECTION

JUNE 2020, ISSUE 2

WHERE WE STAND

Now, Colorado spends about  $2,700 LESS per student than the national average.

WHY HAVE WE FALLEN SO FAR?

NOW, SCHOOLS FACE A POSSIBLE REDUCTION OF ANOTHER $800 PER STUDENT

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JUNE 2020, ISSUE 2

WE ASKED STUDENTS TO REFLECT ON THE EQUITABILITY OF THEIR OWN EDUCATIONS. HERE IS WHAT THEY SAID. WHAT IS EQUITABLE EDUCATION IN YOUR WORDS? "Education that fits the needs of every student and ensures that they are all given the tools they need to learn." - Anonymous.

"An equitable education for a student is an environment where they can get support on subjects or assignments they are struggling with."

- Onyx Oats.

"Equitable education to me is an education system that serves all communities to provide a fair and just future for all students.

This also means that resources are given out to students that need them instead of to students who can afford them.

The curriculum teaches history fairly from different perspectives not just from a white perspective. anti-racism, antisexist, anti-hatred material is included and an emphasis on issues that affect our future are highlighted, especially climate change." - Bella.

WHAT ARE THE PERSPECTIVES THAT YOU FEEL ARE OFTEN UNDERREPRESENTED OR LEFT OUR ENTIRELY FROM YOUR CLASSES AND CURRICULA? HOW DOES THIS AFFECT YOUR EDUCATION OR THE EDUCATIONS OF YOUR PEERS? "I feel like the perspectives of women and minorities, essentially anyone that isn’t/wasn’t a straight white male, are extremely underrepresented in classes.

This prevents students from getting the full story, and makes them feel like their perspectives or opinions aren’t valid." - Haven Nasif.

"I feel that POC and indigenous perspectives are left out. They are imperative perspectives to learn from that are currently ignored." - Bella.

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"I think the fact that we have three years of subpar American history and no part of the curriculum focuses on minorities outside of the context of white domination (e.g. slavery, Asians building the intercontinental rail road, the Trail of Tears, etc. ) is atrocious. There is nowhere near an acceptable amount of detail and time devoted to these perspectives. I feel so profoundly let down by my education when I have to learn about major American events and downfalls such as the Chinese Exclusion Act, Japanese internment camps, Stonewall, and many other atrocities on my own.

American history isn’t American history. It’s white history." - Olivia Savidge.

JUNE 2020, ISSUE 2

WE ASKED STUDENTS TO REFLECT ON THE EQUITABILITY OF THEIR OWN EDUCATIONS. HERE IS WHAT THEY SAID.

DESCRIBE/ REFLECT ON A TIME THAT

YOU

HAVE

WITNESSED

INEQUALITY IN YOUR SCHOOL. "As a mixed race (Asian American and Caucasian) person, I’ve felt pretty

alienated

from

both

aspects of my race in the past. I’ve also noticed that Asian Americans are

sometimes

held

to

higher

standards by teachers, admin, and

TO WHAT EXTENT DO YOU BELIEVE

even

peers

due

to

unfair

stereotypes. The idea of “Asian

THAT EDUCATION IS AN EQUALIZER?

tiger parents” both adds to this

WHAT STEPS CAN WE TAKE TO MAKE IT

stereotype and is often untrue. As

MORE SO?

an Asian American, the pressure

"I think that in order to make education

everyone but parents. This has

of a “tiger parent” is often from

an equalizer, all students need to have equal opportunity and learn extensively about all cultures and the issues that face them." - Haven Nasif.

immense

negative

impacts

on

mental health and self worth. I’ve felt unworthy to call myself Asian because when I get a bad grade I’m called “fasian” (fake Asian), or “banana” (yellow on the outside,

"I

think

it

should

Standardized

be,

tests

but

favor

it

isn’t.

people

of

higher economic classes who can a) afford preparation courses and materials and

b)

afford

the

test

itself.

Standardized tests are a multi-milliondollar industry and have proven to be a relatively redundant education,

useless

metric

qualification especially

and

for

now,

a

higher

with

the

steps schools such as the UC system have taken to get rid of them." - Olivia

white

on

the

inside)."

-

Olivia

Savidge.

"A time I witnessed inequality in my school was when a student of color was walking down the hall and

got

stopped

by

administration and taken to the office

just

because

he

was

wearing a durag. The same day, a white kid was wearing a durag in the hallway and wasn't told to take it off." - Onyx Oats.

Savidge.

STUDENT SECTION

JUNE 2020, ISSUE 2

WE ASKED STUDENTS TO REFLECT ON THE EQUITABILITY OF THEIR OWN EDUCATIONS. HERE IS WHAT THEY SAID.

WHAT

RESOURCES

ARE

UNAVAILABLE TO YOU AT SCHOOL THAT

STUDENTS

SCHOOLS

MIGHT

AT

OTHER

TAKE

FOR

that

cares

GRANTED? "An

interventionalist

about the students and wants to help all students succeed and get the help they need. We need better mental

health

support

because

councilors focus on college and do not have the time or training to focus on our mental health needs as well." - Bella.

SEE IN THE CURRICULA AND SUBJECT MATTER OF YOUR CLASSES? "I feel like especially in history classes, more

"School computers and counselors."

- Anonymous.

WHAT CHANGES WOULD YOU LIKE TO

perspectives

cultures

and

more

from insight

different into

the

stories of people of other races, genders, sexualities, and classes." - Haven Nasif.

"I think a history of oppressed people class is so extremely necessary to instill empathy,

open

understanding

in

mindedness, youth."

-

and Olivia

Savidge.

"A change I would like to see in the curriculum at school is for teachers who teach history to explain the civil rights movement in a way that’s engaging."

- Onyx Oats.

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