Op-Ed

To Be Equal: Making Certain Every Child Achieves

Published

10 years ago

June 22, 2015

By Marc H. Morial
NNPA Columnist

By passing this bill, we bridge the gap between helplessness and hope for more than 5 million educationally deprived children. We put into the hands of our youth more than 30 million new books, and into many of our schools their first libraries. We reduce the terrible time lag in bringing new teaching techniques into the Nation’s classrooms. We strengthen State and local agencies which bear the burden and the challenge of better education. And we rekindle the revolution–the revolution of the spirit against the tyranny of ignorance.” – President Lyndon B. Johnson, upon the signing of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, April 11, 1965

In a matter of weeks, our nation’s senators will decide whether to improve access to this country’s promise of opportunity for every child through quality education, or deny our most vulnerable children – many from historically disadvantaged groups – equity, excellence and accountability in our public school system, and along with that, a proven path to future opportunity and success in this country.

If the Every Child Achieves Act of 2015 passes in its current, deficient form, children in low performance schools, children of color, children with disabilities, and those born into poverty and poor neighborhoods are sure to be left behind.

The ECAA is the U.S. Senate’s bipartisan reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, commonly known as No Child Left Behind. The ESEA was signed into law 50 years ago. It was a landmark piece of federal civil rights legislation that became a critical cornerstone of President Lyndon Johnson’s “War on Poverty” initiative designed to close the education achievement gap between lower- and higher-income children.

Fifty years later, with Congress currently considering a vote on the ESEA reauthorization bill, the gap in educational opportunity, achievement and funding has only grown wider and the promise of equity in education for all of our nation’s students will be betrayed by a bill that does not provide additional support and opportunities for disadvantaged students.

For the first time in our nation’s history, students of color are the majority of the U.S. student body. And according to a recent survey by the Southern Education Foundation, a majority of all public school students come from low-income homes. The continued success of our nation on the domestic front and the international playing field will be in large part determined at the intersection of civil rights and education.

A nation fully committed to the future success of all of its children and, by extension, its own future, must pass a reauthorization bill that holds schools and districts accountable in every instance and manner that leaves no vulnerable students behind. We must spend our education dollars and resources where the need is greatest. Without strong federal oversight and the ability to course correct when necessary, the practice of understaffing and underfunding schools in our most vulnerable communities will continue unchecked.

The practice of not requiring school districts to provide equitable resources, or to close the comparability loophole in all its schools, for vulnerable student subgroups like English language learners or students with disabilities, will only serve to perpetuate the very inequality the original bill sought to make the stuff of history in our modern-day schoolroom textbooks. We all know knowledge is power, therefore the reauthorization bill also needs to provide the transparency, data and reporting families and communities need to effectively advocate for their children and schools.

Without critical provisions like these, like so many families, government officials and advocacy groups, the National Urban League will stand firm in its opposition to the current incarnation of the ECAA and demands that Congress revisit and recommit to the original vision of ESEA when it was first signed into law 50 years ago.

Last week, we were joined in our opposition and fight to revise the bill by 84 members of the Congressional Tri-Caucus, a group composed of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, the Congressional Black Caucus and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. The group sent a letter to the education committee in the Senate acknowledging the flaws in current law the bill has remedied, but they also maintained “the bill in its current form does not do enough to protect the historically disadvantaged and vulnerable students the ESEA is intended to serve.”

We commend the Tri-Caucus for standing on principle and opposing the bill. We also look forward to working in partnership to craft an ESEA reauthorization bill that will prepare all children for college, work and life – no matter their family income, race or zip code – allowing every child the opportunity to realize and act on their full potential.

Marc H. Morial, former mayor of New Orleans, is president and CEO of the National Urban League.

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Activism

Actor, Philanthropist Blair Underwood Visits Bay Area, Kicks Off Literacy Program in ‘New Oakland’ Initiative

These community activations were coordinated with the San Francisco-based non-profit program “Room to Read.” Ray said he is also donating his time to read and take pictures with students to encourage their engagement and to inspire them to read more. The inspirational book “Clifford Ray Saves the Day” highlights Clifford Ray’s true story of saving a dolphin.

Published

1 month ago

February 18, 2025

Oakland Post

Blair Underwood (left) and Barbara Lee (right). Courtesy photo.

By Paul Cobb
New Oakland Series
Opinion Part 3

The Post mentioned three weeks ago that a number of our local luminaries were coming together to support the “New Oakland” movement. As this current national administration continues to eliminate our “legacy” institutional policies and programs left and right, most communities find themselves beyond “frozen” in fear.

Well, esteemed actor, long-time Bay Area supporter, and philanthropist Blair Underwood returned to Oakland this week to speak with city leaders, community trust agents, students, the Oakland Post, and local celebrities alike to continue his “New Oakland” initiative.

This week, he kicked off his “Guess Who’s Coming to Read” literacy program in some of Oakland’s middle schools. Clifford Ray, who played the center position of the 1975 World Champion Golden State Warriors, donated close to 1,000 books. Ray’s fellow teammate Charles “The Hopper” Dudley also gave Converse sneakers to students.

Underwood also spent quality time with the Oakland Ballers ownership group and visited the amazing Raimondi Park West Oakland community revitalization site. In the 1996 TV film Soul of the Game, Underwood played the role of the legendary first Black Major League Baseball player Jackie Robinson and commended the Ballers owners.

“This group of sports enthusiasts/ philanthropists needs to be applauded for their human capital investment and their financial capital investment,” Underwood said. “Truly putting their money and passion to work,” Underwood said.

Underwood was also inspired by mayoral candidate Barbara Lee’s open-minded invitation to bring public-private partnership opportunities to Oakland.

Underwood said he wants to “reinforce the importance of ‘collaborative activism’ among those most marginalized by non-empathic leadership. We must ‘act out’ our discomfort with passionate intentions to create healthy change.”

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Activism

Councilmembers Ramachandran, Kaplan, Unger Identify Funds to Save Oakland Fire Stations

Our budget crisis – one of the worst in Oakland’s history – is compounded by the fact that people do not feel safe coming to Oakland due to our public safety crisis. By investing in our fundamental public safety resources today, we can send a signal to the world that Oakland is open for business. We have such a rich and vibrant culture, arts, and food scene that is worth celebrating – but we can only showcase this if we are able to keep our neighborhoods safe. Having fully functioning fire stations are absolutely essential to these efforts.

Published

1 month ago

February 18, 2025

Oakland Post

Councilmember Janani Ramachandran. Courtesy photo.

By Janani Ramachandran

There is no greater concern to the people of Oakland today than public safety. Fire stations are the bread and butter of essential city services – and every day that we have stations shuttered, we imperil the lives of our community members. In response to widespread outcry over the current and planned closure of stations, myself, along with Councilmembers Kaplan and Unger, have painstakingly worked to identify millions of dollars of new funding to save our stations. The legislation we introduced on Thursday, February 13th, will amend our budget to prevent the closure of four fire stations that are currently on the chopping block due to our budget crisis and will re-open two closed stations that have already been closed – Station 25 and 28 – in the near future. The resolution that will provide the funding to keep our stations open will go before the full City Council for a vote at our meeting on Tuesday, March 4^th at 3:30 PM – and we invite you to join us at City Hall to share your perspective on the topic.

With the devastating Los Angeles fire at the top of people’s minds, terrible memories of Oakland’s own wildfires are re-surfacing from the 1991 Oakland Hills Firestorm to the Keller fire just a few months ago – and how essential fire stations are to mitigating these catastrophes. But in Oakland, our fire stations don’t just fight wildfires – they also provide emergency medical services to our most vulnerable constituents, put out structural fires and encampment fires, and much more.

We recognize that there are a number of competing interests and important initiatives fighting for sparse City resources. But from my perspective, core safety services are the most pivotal functions that a City must spend its resources on – especially given the outcry we have heard around fire stations.

The fight to save our stations is not over. The resolution we introduced is a critical first step, and there are hurdles to overcome. If you support keeping our fire stations open, we invite you to be a part of the solution by making your voice heard at the March 4^th City Council meeting at 3:30 pm.

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Activism

NNPA Launches National Public Education and Selective Buying Campaign

“We are the trusted voice of Black America, and we will not be silent or nonresponsive to the rapid rise of renewed Jim Crow racist policies in corporate America,” stated NNPA Chairman Bobby R. Henry Sr. “The Black Press of America continues to remain on the frontline keeping our families and communities informed and engaged on all the issues that impact our quality of life.”

Published

1 month ago

February 18, 2025

Oakland Post

iStock.

Washington, DC: The National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA), representing the Black Press of America, has announced the planning and implementation of a national public education and selective buying campaign across the nation in direct response to those corporate entities that have dismantled their respective Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) commitments, programs and staffing. NNPA Chairman Emeritus Danny Bakewell Sr. explained, “Now is the time for the Black Press of America once again to emphatically speak and publish truth to power.”

At a recent convening of NNPA member publishers and editors, a united resolve was reached that each member publication of the NNPA will begin a national public education campaign coupled with the release of research data on those American companies that are engaging in efforts to sanction racial injustice, inequitable polices, divisive leadership, and economic apartheid in America.

“We note forthrightly that Black Americans spend $2 trillion dollars annually as consumers of products and services throughout the United States,” NNPA President and CEO Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr. emphasized. “We now must evaluate and realign to question why we continue to spend our money with companies that do not respect us,” Chavis continued. “This now must come to an end. These contradictions will not go unchallenged by 50 million Black Americans who have struggled for centuries to ensure equality, fairness and inclusion in our nation’s democracy.”

A selective buying campaign involves exercising the right to select what we spend our money on and who we spend our money with. We are starting with targeting TARGET.

The following are some of the major American companies that have publicly retreated from Diversity, Equity and Inclusion: