Advisory: Civil Rights and Education Advocates Discuss Major Reports on Massive Resource Inequities in Public Schools
WASHINGTON – At 12:45 PM ET on Friday, civil rights and education organizations will host a press call to release two major reports documenting the massive resource disparities in public schools nationwide. The Leadership Conference Education Fund will discuss its new report on resource inequity in public schools across the nation. Education Law Center will discuss its fourth National Report Card on how the states fund public education. Both reports and the call will be embargoed for release until 12:01 AM ET on Monday, June 8.
About the reports:
Cheating our Future: How Decades of Disinvestment by States Continues to Jeopardize Equal Educational Opportunity examines in-depth how a lack of resources helps to create vastly unequal education opportunities, even for students within the same state. It profiles schools in Pennsylvania, Mississippi, Colorado, and South Carolina and vividly presents the types of inequities students and educators face every day. The report follows the work of the Equity and Excellence Commission created by an act of Congress and appointed by U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan. The report is from The Leadership Conference Education Fund, a nonprofit civil rights organization based in Washington, D.C., which is the sister organization of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights.
Is School Funding Fair? A National Report Card, 4th Edition, ranks each state on how fairly they fund K-12 public education using a variety of measures. The report shows startling disparities in funding levels and that most states do not provide additional funds for students living in poverty. The report also shows that many states have yet to restore budget cuts made during the Great Recession and are not providing the funding for growing enrollments and new demands that students and educators meet higher academic standards. The report is from the Newark, N.J.-based Education Law Center, a leading advocate for school finance reform and educational equity in the United States.
Please send RSVP and embargoed report requests to [email protected]. The embargo for the call and reports will be lifted at 12:01 a.m. on Monday, June 8 . Advance interviews are available.
WHO:
- Wade Henderson, president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and The Leadership Conference Education Fund
- David Sciarra, executive director of Education Law Center
WHAT: Press Call: Civil Rights and Education Advocates Discuss Major Reports on Massive Resource Inequities in Public Schools
WHEN: Friday, June 5 at 12:45 PM ET. The call will be embargoed until 12:01 a.m. on Monday, June 8.
CALL-IN INFO: RSVP requested to [email protected]. 866-952-1907. Verbal passcode is “equity.”