Press Call Tuesday: Black and Latino Civil Rights Leaders, Parents, and Teachers Call for Strong Education Bill

Media 02.9,15

WASHINGTON – On Tuesday, February 10 at 10:00 a.m. EST, the day before a key House committee vote on a proposal to weaken the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), Black and Latino civil rights leaders, teachers, and parents will call on Congress to protect the most vital parts of the law for their communities. Several of the speakers will deliver their remarks in both English and Spanish. 

Since the passage of the ESEA fifty years ago, the resources and accountability it provides to states and school districts have been our nation’s major drivers of greater equity in our public schools.   

But the pending House and Senate ESEA reauthorizations gut the most important provisions that help states and school districts narrow achievement gaps for students of color, students with disabilities, low-income students, and English language learners. These include undermining of targeted funding for low-income children, eliminating targets for narrowing achievement gaps, allowing states to lower performance expectations for minority school districts, rolling back of annual testing necessary to measure student progress, allowing schools to segregate students with disabilities, and allowing states to place less qualified teachers in low-income and minority schools.

Speakers will call on Congress to protect these provisions and share how a strong ESEA is vital for improving educational outcomes in their communities.   

Click here to read the shared civil rights principles for ESEA reauthorization.  

RSVP requested to [email protected]

WHEN: Tuesday, February 10 at 10:00 a.m. EST

WHO:

·         Wade Henderson, president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights

·         Janet Murguía, president and CEO of the National Council of La Raza

  •   Chanelle Hardy, executive director and senior vice president for policy, National Urban League

  • Nancy Zirkin, executive vice president of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights

    ·         Arturo Garcia, public school parent in Denver, Colorado

    ·         William Hayes, elementary school principal in Cleveland, Ohio

    DIAL-IN INFORMATION: Please RSVP to [email protected]. Dial-in: 877-876-9177 Verbal Passcode: “Education”