Dr. Julian Vasquez Heilig African Americans, Curriculum, Standards

Breaking News: NAACP Resolution Decries Representation of African Americans in textbooks, courses and standards

The NAACP has a new resolution speaking out against the problematic representation of African Americans in our education system.

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is the nation’s largest and oldest civil rights organization. It was formed in 1909 as a “bi-racial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans.” My Great Grandma Z. Louise Scott was an NAACP member and heard the MLK’s “I have a dream Speech” in Detroit and later at the March on Washingon. You know what they say, “the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”

I was honored to travel to Dallas this past week to present at the Texas NAACP state conference at their yearly education workshop.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BorioPaBCvh/?taken-by=professorjvh

Upon arriving at the NAACP convention, I immediately ran into Gary Bledsoe, Texas NAACP President. He asked me to work with Victor Goode, Interim National NAACP Education Chair, and the conference education workshop attendees to craft a Texas NAACP resolution calling for empowering and historically accurate representation of African Americans in textbooks, courses and standards. I was honored to participate in this process and to help craft the new resolution. Here is what the Texas convention delegates voted into policy.

WHEREAS, the Texas NAACP is the state’s vanguard for education and civil rights.

WHEREAS, as our society evolves in coming years, a future-forward vision for
education explores the opportunity and challenges in making knowledge about all
communities in our nation more accessible and accurate.

WHEREAS, the challenge in Texas is that peer reviewed research has shown that the
textbooks, courses and standards have in many ways historically excluded communities of color.

WHEREAS, research by professors from the University of Texas at Austin has analyzed the Texas standards and textbooks and found that communities of color have been often excluded and sometimes misrepresented in the curriculum and textbooks.

WHEREAS, considering the growing diversity in Texas this has been a travesty because the most recent research on African American studies has shown incredibly positive benefits for student success.

WHEREAS, research data from Stanford University recently showed that high school
classes including African American studies have reduced dropout rates, raised graduation rates, reduced unexcused absences, boosted self-esteem, raised self-efficacy, increased academic engagement, and raised personal empowerment.

WHEREAS, districts across the United States are recognizing the positive impacts of
African American studies on students from all backgrounds. Many have passed
resolutions requiring students to take an ethnic studies class.

WHEREAS, the Houston Independent School District, Dallas Independent School
District and others have confirmed the importance of ethnic studies courses for student success.

WHEREAS, Texas students, educators, and other stakeholders have provided many
examples and reasons in their comments to support African American studies.

WHEREAS, the National NAACP is on record demanding an examination of school
history textbooks for omissions, distortions, bias, and insufficient coverage of the
contributions of Africans and African Americans in America, with an emphasis on the antebellum period; and all school history texts should give an accurate account of the contributions of African Americans, in all fields of endeavor, to the settlement, growth, and development of this country.

WHEREAS, the TEKS review process and the Instructional Materials Review and
Adoption Process provides opportunities for the Texas State Board of Education
(SBOE) to “get it right” with respect to textbooks and other instructional materials.

WHEREAS, the SBOE should request reviews to be conducted by expert academics todetermine the appropriateness and historical accuracy of state standards (Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills), including state social studies standards.

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Texas NAACP will support efforts that
are empowering and historically accurate representation of African Americans in Texas textbooks, courses, and standards for every Texan.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, the Texas NAACP will encourage the unit Education Chairs to develop and participate in community-based Saturday schools to engage and fill the gaps about African Americans in the state of Texas curriculum.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, the Texas NAACP and its units will commit to
calling for the rejection of all textbooks and instructional materials that are historically inaccurate and/or cloak racist intent.

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED, the Texas NAACP and its units will support Texas State Board of Education members who advocate for a statewide African American studies course and commit to supporting all school districts who wish to implement an African American studies course.

My work with the NAACP began in Texas about ten years ago when Gary Bledsoe filed a complaint with the US Department of Education about the problematic representation of African Americans in the state social studies standards. At the time, the Obama administration refused to weigh in. However, the collaboration with Gary and the Texas NAACP inspired our article Illuision of Inclusion that was published in the Harvard Education Review. Six years ago I “blogged” about the article here. As you can see, my blogging has come a long way from the early days. Since all the links are now broken from that post, check out the article on my academia.edu page here.

I asked President Gary Bledsoe to weigh in on the new resolution. He said,

It is our hope to put all citizens of good will on notice that we will be seeking important and holistic changes in Texas’ k-12 education system to try as much as possible to eliminate institutionalized bias and discrimination. One way we are attempting this is to continue and support that proper education be taught about our many varied and diverse groups—including a change that will require the teaching of African-American history. This change will help to address the miseducation of Texas Public School students on history, race, ethnicity, the contributions of women in our State and other related issues. Further, it is important to properly depict history and we have not done so in Texas. As Black Klansman Ron Stallworth said to our convention on Friday, it is simply not defensible to consider the Black Panthers a terrorist organization and not so consider the Klan.

Thank you Texas NAACP for standing up and speaking out for all children and demanding an empowering and historically accurate representation of African Americans in textbooks, courses and standards.

Please Facebook Like, Tweet, etc below and/or reblog to share this discussion with others.

Check out and follow my YouTube channel here.

Twitter: @ProfessorJVH

Click here for Vitae.

Other news: I arrived at the NAACP convention directly from an NEA Foundation #NEAFPromise event— which was a collection of incredible inspiring stories about education. Check out the hashtag.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Boj_SkXhC6j/?taken-by=professorjvh

 

 

 

Dr. Julian Vasquez Heilig African Americans, Charter Schools

Please support @NAACP Thunderclap today!

The NAACP is seeking 500 supporters for its High Quality Education Thunderclap! Will you join them today with your Facebook and/or Twitter?

The Thunderclap reads:

“Call for resource equity. Accountability for charters. Moratorium still warranted. #QualityEd #NAACP http://thndr.me/RsJkGu”

Join the Thunderclap ASAP here.

The purpose of their message is to highlight the NAACP TaskForce Report on Quality Education.

Founded 1909, the NAACP is the nation’s oldest and largest grassroots–based civil rights organization. Over 2,000 volunteer-run branches nationwide. The NAACP has been a vanguard for public education for more than 100 years!

What is a Thunderclap?

More than 12 billion Thunderclap messages have been seen by people across 238 countries and territories. It’s the world’s first crowdspeaking platform, and over 7 million people have donated their social reach for ideas and causes that matter…Thunderclap makes going viral possible by leveraging your network to support and amplify your cause at the exact moment you want your message shared. The result? A thunderous virtual standing ovation.”

Also check out the NAACP Plan of Action for Charters on their website here.

See also the posts Roundup of NAACP’s Harder Stance on Charter Schools and  Did NAACP roll back call for charter moratorium? (Thunderclap also answers this one)

Please Facebook Like, Tweet, etc below and/or reblog to share this discussion with others.

Check out and follow my YouTube channel here.

Want to know about Cloaking Inequity’s freshly pressed conversations about educational policy? Click the “Follow blog by email” button in the upper left hand corner of this page.

Twitter: @ProfessorJVH

Click here for Vitae.

 

Dr. Julian Vasquez Heilig African Americans, Charter Schools

Did NAACP roll back call for charter moratorium?

There appears to be an increasing number of articles saying that the NAACP has taken a softer tone or even rolled back the 2016 call for a charter moratorium. In this blog post I’ll set the record straight based on my personal perspectives.

On the first point, my read is that the leaders and members of the organization are still absolutely concerned about transparency and accountability in the charter sector. There’s mucho more I’d like to say about this, but I don’t want charter proponents who aren’t interested in reform to be able to prepare for what is coming.

On the second point, in my post yesterday (Roundup of NAACP’s Harder Stance on Charter Schools) there were a few media outlets (and now more blogs) that are misreporting the gist of the NAACP’s Task Force on High Quality Education. I even had a phone call with blogger Steven Singer today assuring him that the moratorium has not been rolled back.

I suspect the spread of this rumor is due to a misunderstanding about how the NAACP does its work. Let me quickly discuss the process of a civil rights resolution in the organization. A resolution first comes from a local unit— i.e. the San Jose California chapter (true story). It then often goes to a state resolution convention (this part can vary state to state). After state approval, then it goes to a national resolutions committee. Moving on from the national committee is not a forgone conclusion. For example, my resolution this year about community schools did not make it out of the national resolutions committee. If it leaps that hurdle, it finally goes to the floor of the national convention for a vote by more than 2,000 delegates from across the United States. After a resolution hurdles each of these steps, it goes up for a vote at the NAACP national board’s fall meeting. If the national board votes for ratification, the resolution becomes the national policy of the organization.

Clearly, the process for a civil rights resolution is extended and democratic.

So what does the NAACP’s Task Force on Quality Education think about all of this? You can listen to the the NAACP national board chair discuss the moratorium and the creation of the NAACP Task Force on High Quality Education process on Facebook LIVE here:

Would you like to hear what the members of the Task Force learned during their year long listening tour across the United States? I suspect their perspectives on charters might surprise you. I continued filming the discussion at the convention in the YouTube video below.

In sum, there was NO CHARTER MORATORIUM REPEAL RESOLUTION passed at the 2017 NAACP national convention in Baltimore. So, the charter moratorium call is still the national policy of the organization. Anyone who says otherwise either has a political agenda or doesn’t understand how the NAACP functions.

I hope this perspective sets the record straight. Thanks for reading Cloaking Inequity.

Please Facebook Like, Tweet, etc below and/or reblog to share this discussion with others.

Check out and follow my YouTube channel here.

Want to know about Cloaking Inequity’s freshly pressed conversations about educational policy? Click the “Follow blog by email” button in the upper left hand corner of this page.

Twitter: @ProfessorJVH

Click here for Vitae.

Dr. Julian Vasquez Heilig Charter Schools

.@NAACP says contact Senator and Reps about DeVos and Trump #NAACP108

I am in Baltimore at the NAACP’s 2017 National Convention.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BW5QniOlwDL/?taken-by=professorjvh

https://www.instagram.com/p/BW38lGulGSv/?taken-by=professorjvh

https://www.instagram.com/p/BW0ekMmF9iv/?taken-by=professorjvh

https://www.instagram.com/p/BW0NxaGlHsj/?taken-by=professorjvh

Much will happen here that you will probably see in the news soon. I believe the NAACP is reinvigorated to take on education issues. More info very soon.

But for now, the NAACP’s National Education Department recently release a letter that they would like you to send to your Senator and Congresspeople. Please do so if you are able.

SAMPLE LETTER TO YOUR U.S. SENATORS AND U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MEMBER ON TRUMP PROPOSED 2018 BUDGET

Dear NAME OF YOUR CONGRESSIONAL REPRESENTATIVE:

I support quality public education. However, the Trump Administration’s first full budget proposal, released in May, reflects a narrow and misguided view of education priorities. The budget proposal would slash $9.2 billion, or 13.5 percent, of funding for the Department of Education for Fiscal Year 2018.

Title 1 funding for disadvantaged students was cut by $578 million and special education funding was cut by over $110 million. Title II funding to support teacher professional development was eliminated entirely, as was funding to support literacy programs for high-need students and after school programs. Even the new Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grant program, which was created under ESSA to support a well- rounded education for students, a safe and healthy school climate, and the effective use of technology was eliminated from the budget.

One of the very few programs to see an increase under the Trump Administration’s proposed budget is a program to start new charter schools or expand and replicate existing high-performing charter schools. This program received an increase of nearly 50 percent. Trump also proposed $1 billion to create a new program to support public school choice, called the Furthering Options for Children to Unlock Success, or FOCUS, grants. FOCUS grants would be awarded to school districts that allow federal, state, and local funds to follow students to a public school of their choice. Disadvantaged students would be provided with more funding on a per-pupil basis than other students. The NAACP opposed “portability” during ESEA reauthorization in 2015 and we oppose it nowbecause it undermines already underfunded school districts and provides public funding to many schools that lack the same accountability and transparency required of traditional public schools.

Further, a program intended to support innovation and research received a $250 million increase in funding to award scholarships to students from low-income families to attend a private school of their choice. We also oppose public funding of vouchers to attend private schools. Please reject the $1.5 billion for “school choice” which the President referred to as a “down payment” on his campaign goal of spending $20 billion on public and private school choice.

Finally, in your oversight capacity, please demand that U.S. Department of Education Secretary De Vos enforce federal anti-discrimination protections (e.g., Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, Section 504 off the Rehabilitation Act) for students in schools that receive federal financial assistance, and, in your appropriations capacity, please also fund the Department of Education Office of Civil Rights at a level so that its staff can effectively carry out its statutory responsibilities.

Sincerely,

 

Please Facebook Like, Tweet, etc below and/or reblog to share this discussion with others.

Check out and follow my YouTube channel here.

Want to know about Cloaking Inequity’s freshly pressed conversations about educational policy? Click the “Follow blog by email” button in the upper left hand corner of this page.

Twitter: @ProfessorJVH

Click here for Vitae.

Dr. Julian Vasquez Heilig African Americans, Charter Schools, Wisdom

Alert: @NAACP formally opposing @BetsyDeVos

During School Choice Week a white Texas governor tried to convince the public that school choice, including school vouchers, are civil rights. However, the nation’s oldest and largest civil rights organizations appears to disagree with that premise by formally opposing Betsy DeVos, the school choice queen, for US Secretary of Education. (For more on Betsy DeVos click here).

Screen Shot 2017-01-26 at 8.55.03 AM.png

It was kind of cool that @NAACP tagged me on the photo in their official announcement on Twitter! Here is the press release:

Given the importance of education to the NAACP, and Mrs. Betsy DeVos’ sheer lack of qualifications and her demonstrated lack of commitment to ensuring the ability of all students to receive a high quality public education, the NAACP now officially opposes her confirmation.  The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions is scheduled to vote on whether to send the DeVos nomination to the floor of the full Senate with a positive recommendation at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, January 31.

We are asking supporters and members to call and urge every Senator to oppose her confirmation. Follow this link to our full Action Alert outlining our concerns and letting you know how you can help effectively.  The final page of the Action Alert includes a list of Senators who serve on the HELP Committee to call.

Please Contact both your Senators and Urge Them to Oppose the Nomination of Betsy DeVos to be US Secretary of Education, especially if they are members of the Senate Committee on Health, Eductaion, Labor and Pensions

Make a Phone Call:

Call your Senators in Washington by dialing the Capitol Switchboard and asking to be transferred to your Senators’ offices. The switchboard phone number is (202) 224-3121 No time for a letter! Call, e-mail, or fax!

Send an Email:

To send an e-mail to your Senators, go to http://www.senate.gov; click on “Find Your Senators”. Look up your Senators by state; go to their web sites for e-mail addresses.

REMEMBER TO CONTACT BOTH YOUR SENATORS!!!!!

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS IMPORTANT MATTER!!! If you have any questions, call Hilary Shelton at the Washington Bureau at (202) 463-2940.

THE MESSAGE:

  • Over 90 percent of America’s children attend public schools in our nation. We owe it to them and to our future to ensure they get the highest quality education possible, regardless of their race, ethnicity, language, disability, gender, sexual orientation, where they live, or station in life.
  • Mrs. DeVos’ sheer lack of qualifications or experience with public schools and her demonstrated lack of commitment to ensuring the ability of all students to receive an adequate education are alarming.
  • Mrs. DeVos’ background is in promoting school vouchers and tax credits to support private schools. These options have been proven to be ineffective for students, families, communities and taxpayers.

Note that it appears KIPP and TFA will be really cozy with the Trump administration as one of their own is rumored to be appointed as the White House Education advisor.

See also ‘School Choice’ Education Secretary Not What Latino Students Need and Five Questions You Should Ask about Secretary of Education Nominee Betsy Devos and Phi Delta Kappan: Do Charter schools serve black children well?

Check out and follow my YouTube channel here.

Please Facebook Like, Tweet, etc below and/or reblog to share this discussion with others.

Want to know about Cloaking Inequity’s freshly pressed conversations about educational policy? Click the “Follow blog by email” button on the home page.

Twitter: @ProfessorJVH

Click here for Vitae.

Join me today on Twitter for a LIVE chat about school choice at 4 pm PST.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BPoXzOcDDeH/?taken-by=professorjvh