Civilrights.org

Yesterday, students from around the country showed their support for greater protections for students and workers and affordable education for all people at a rally held by the United States Student Association (USSA) and the Student Labor Action Project.

Hundreds of students marched from L'Enfant Plaza to Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., shouting cheers for policymakers to consider increasing federal financial aid for college and lowering student loan debt.  Many held signs that read "Education is a Right" and "Students and Workers Unite for Justice." 

A few policymakers spoke at the Capitol, but the most impassioned speech came from Sen. Richard Durbin, D. Ill., who expressed strong support for the DREAM Act, a bill that would create a path to legalization for undocumented immigrants who want to go to college or serve in the U.S. military.

The rally is part of USSA's 40th Annual Grassroots Legislative Conference and the Student Labor Week of Action.

In a speech today before the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, President Obama said it is time to reform U.S. education by adopting uniform achievement standards, increasing funding for early childhood education and high schools, and rewarding good teachers.

"The relative decline of American education is untenable for our economy, it's unsustainable for our democracy, it's unacceptable for our children -- and we can't afford to let it continue," said Obama.

To implement the president's vision, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan told the Washington Post last week that he plans to use the education money in the recently passed economic recovery law to encourage school districts to adopt innovative policies and programs that have been proven to better educate students, including lengthening the school day, rewarding good teachers, and adopting uniform achievement standards.

"We share President Obama and Secretary Duncan's commitment to ensuring that education funding, and especially the new funding provided by the Recovery Act, support real reforms that will actually reach every child in America and help provide them with a first-rate education," said David Goldberg, a senior counsel at LCCR.   

In 2000, the San Diego Unified School District (SDUSD) created the "Blueprint for Student Success" to reform its schools and better educate its students. SDUSD is the eighth largest urban school district in the nation and has a high concentration of minorities and low-income students.

Prior to the plan, schools in the district struggled with a high dropout rate, and a graduation rate of only 67 percent, and low numbers of high school graduates enrolling in college. The plan created immediate results for elementary schools, but results at the high school level took a little longer.

To address the unique challenges of its high schools, SDUSD converted three of its largest and lowest-performing high schools into 14 smaller independent schools. Each uniquely themed school focused its efforts on integrating rigorous academic coursework with real-world experiences in order to better prepare students for college or job entry.

As a result, SDUSD's graduation and attendance rates have improved and the district has increased English proficiency among students who do not speak English as their primary language. Leaders of the program credit its success to more personalized attention for students and the ability to tailor the curriculum to students' needs.

With at least 26 states enacting or proposing major budget cuts to K-12 education spending, the money for education in the economic recovery package that President Obama signed into law today could have a huge impact on struggling states and local school districts.

The new law earmarks about $80 billion for education spending, to be spent on saving or creating teaching jobs, updating school buildings and technology, special education, and the Early Head Start and Head Start programs.

"These are significant increases in federal education funding and they can be very helpful," said David Goldberg, the senior counsel and senior policy analyst of LCCR.  "However, there are also missed opportunities here.  There is no funding for high school reform or English language learners.  We hope Congress will follow up quickly with targeted reforms and funding to address the dropout crisis and the needs of ELLs."

A January 2009 report from the Civil Rights Project at UCLA shows that amid the current national climate of anticipation and hope, the U.S. is sliding backward toward segregated and highly unequal schools.

Professor Gary Orfield, the author of "Reviving the Goal of an Integrated Society: A 21st Century Challenge," commented that "it would be a tragedy if the country assumed from the Obama election that the problems of race have been solved, when many inequalities are actually deepening."

Orfield goes on to say that we should strive to extend the educational opportunities which President Obama had to "the millions of Blacks and Latinos who still face isolation and denial of an equal chance."

The report states that 40 percent of Latinos and 39 percent of blacks now attend intensely segregated schools, in which 90 to 100 percent of students are non-White. The typical Black or Latino student attends a school where nearly 60 percent of the students are low-income, creating a doubly-damaging race and poverty divide that is worsening the isolation felt by these minority communities.

These segregated schools form the epicenter of the nation's dropout crisis as they struggle to get the best teachers in the midst of student instability.

As a final point, the report calls on the Obama administration and Congress to look at our current situation and work towards more integrated schools and communities.