Dear Colleagues and Friends,
Last week, U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon ordered state education agencies to “certify compliance” with anti-discrimination laws as a condition of continuing to receive federal funding.
Some states and local districts have already complied, effectively wiping out all programs that address diversity, equity, and inclusion. New Hampshire has even launched a website listing out their school districts and identifying those that have pledged to comply, and those that have not.
Thankfully, there are other states – including Massachusetts – that have stood their ground. Education officials in Minnesota and New York refused to comply with the administration’s order, while California and Vermont told its schools they need not respond. Chicago’s mayor promised to sue over any cuts to federal funding.
And earlier this week Massachusetts Secretary of Education and Interim Commissioner
Patrick Tutwiler issued a bold and defiant statement, pledging that our state will “continue to promote diversity” in schools. The Commonwealth’s schools, he noted, are already in compliance with anti-discrimination laws.
“Massachusetts is home to the best K-12 schools in the country,” he wrote in his April 9 letter to the U.S. Department of Education. “ We know that having people of diverse perspectives and backgrounds—as educators, administrators, and leaders in our education system—is a strength, not a flaw. It is a reason for our success, not a barrier to it.”
And just yesterday, Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell joined 15 other U.S. attorneys general and the Governor of Pennsylvania in suing the Trump Administration to restore states’ access to Department of Education programs that support low-income and unhoused students, and provide funding for other services to address the long-term effects of the pandemic on K-12 students.We are so grateful to the Secretary and the Attorney General for staying true to the values of inclusion that we all share.
We know from research and experience that belonging is a pre-condition for achievement, especially for young people who have been historically marginalized because of ability, appearance, race, language, income, gender, or religion. At Power of Place and our flagship, the Essex County Learning Community, we know that effectively teaching, learning, and leading across differences is an essential step in creating a compassionate, inclusive, and well-functioning society. We as educators must learn, model, and teach what it means to live peacefully, to interrogate the assumptions we all carry, and when necessary, to engage in what Amanda Ripley calls “good conflict.”
My hope is that we all take pride in the strength of the Commonwealth’s leaders. Despite the missives coming out of Washington DC, I hope that we can all work together to continue to build a society that welcomes, appreciates, and makes space for everyone.
In connection,
Jane
Read the full newsletter here (pdf).