Week 3 # 2 Education laws policy on diversity

Week 3 #2 Education laws or policy on diversity New York State plans to use new federal education law to help integrate schools BY MONICA DISARE - APRIL 5, 2017

    In a 2017, Regents Board meeting in New York, state officials said they wanted to make use of the new federal accountability law, Every Students Succeed Act which would require every state to evaluate struggling schools and give support. “Promoting integrated school environments is a cost-effective strategy for raising student achievement for districts,” state officials wrote.

    I decided to research the Every Child Succeed Act and learned that it was enacted by former president Barack Obama in 2015. This act reauthorizes the 50-year old Elementary Secondary Education Act (ESEA). With ongoing population growth in urban and suburban communities and despite how the media portray public schools, the U.S. Department of Education reports, high school graduation rates are at all-time highs. Dropout rates are at historic lows. And more students are going to college than ever before. These achievements provide a firm foundation for further work to expand educational opportunity and improve student outcomes under ESSA. At the meeting, Deputy Commissioner Angelica Infante-Green delivered a presentation on how integration fits into the state’s plan and speaks firmly about how socioeconomically diverse New York State is and validates her plan by citing the UCLA study that found that disparity exists between racial lines because it causes division among school districts in NY. The new law can help to integrate schools. Lawmakers are aware of the benefits of diversity and how it builds robust schools, but some Regents support the integration while others are concerned with how taxpayers would feel about it.

    As I reflect on this news article, I am reminded of Brown v. Board of Education Topeka, Kansas, 1954.  I have to face the reality that up until 2010, my very own state was the most segregated school system in the country, and ask myself, how can that be, when the Great Migration occurred over 119 years ago. The Civil Rights Act was passed in 1964. Despite these truth, I remain steadfast as to why I want to become a certified teacher who prefers working in a multicultural/diverse setting because I know the many benefits such as students developing tolerance for each other religion and culture, reduces prejudices, ability to communicate/present ideas, fosters critical thinking, and closes the achievement gaps in educating K-12 students. My extension to this article is to further learn where we are 2 years toward, Every Students Succeed Act and school integration.