B8 JANUARY 10, 2019
The Chronicle
Bid
from page B6
reported that Booker would
decide to run over the holi
days. The pressure after the
holidays increased when his
Senate colleague, Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), announced
that she was running for President on January 1st. That
followed news that the presidential aspirant and former
congressional colleague of Booker’s, former congressman
Julian Castro of Texas, would be announcing a 2020 run
on January 12.
Photo Caption:
Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) speaks during the
“Linking Together: March to Save Our Care" Rally at the
U.S. Capitol on June 28,2017. Democratic Party Leaders
and others spoke to defend the Affordable Care Act and to
defeat Republican Party efforts to repeal so called
"Obama Care" and replace it with "Trump Care" alterna
tives. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons / Mobius in Mobile)
Website Tags and Keywords:
Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ), Lauren Victoria Burke,
Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA), Senator Elizabeth Warren
(D-MA), Julian Castro, presidential run, 2020 field of
Democrats, White House
Hashtags:
@LVBurke @NNPA_BlackPress @SenBooker
@KamalaHarris @SenWarren @SecretaryCastro
#WhiteHouse2020
Equity v. Equality
Giving Students the Tools They
Need to Succeed
BY: NAOMI SHELTON,
DIRECTOR OF K-12
ADVOCACY AT UNCF
(UNITED NEGRO COLLEGE
FUND)
Equity has been a huge
buzzword in the field of
education
Education
politicians
called for
this year,
advocates and
alike have
an increase in
educational equity, but
what does the term really
mean? Equity is not
Equality. Equity -creates
equality by prioritizing
resources to students who
need them the most.
For example, think of a
typical track meet. There
are five runners - each in
their own lane. Each runner
must run one lap around
the track. The first runner
to complete the lap, wins
the race. Now let's use this
analogy to inform our
understanding of equity.
Equality would mean
that every runner would
start the race at the exact
same spot in their lane.
However, the track is oval-
shaped. If each runner
began at the same spot,
each runner's distance to
the finish line would be dif
ferent. The runner in the
innermost lane would run a
shorter distance than the
runner in the outermost
lane. Sure, they would both
start in the same spot.
(EQUAL), but the runners
in the innermost lanes
would have an advantage -
in distance - than their
counterparts in the outer-
most lanes.
This is precisely why
track meets do not operate
this way. Since the track is
oval-shaped, each runner
begins the race in their own
lane, at different, equal dis
tance, spots along the track;
ensuring that each runner,
runs the exact same dis
tance needed to complete -
the race. ,
Now, think of our cur
rent public education sys
tem in this same context.
Students - regardless of
race, geography, household
makeup - start on the same
marker on the track. Some
students, like the runner in
the outermost lane, have to
run harder and faster to get
to the finish line. The barri
er here is distance. In the
real world, barriers include
low-income, resource
deprived neighborhoods,
disabilities that require
additional expertise, cultur
ally negligent curriculum,
outdated technology, inex
perienced teachers or
access to critical supportive
services.
Meanwhile, the runner
in the innermost lane has it
a lot easier. They don't have
to run as fast or as hard to
get to the finish line
because of their initial
position in the race. The White: And Finding
barriers here are fewer in Myself in the Story of
number. In terms of educa
tion, these innermost run
ners attend schools in afflu
ent neighborhoods with a
surplus of resources. These
students have the advan
tage of local tax-based
funding formulas, parent
lead fundraising efforts
and/or private funding, and
Submitted photo
Naomi Shelton has experience in education related community engagement
both at the national and local levels and public administration. Currently, she
is the Director of K-12 Advocacy at UNCF (United Negro College Fund), the
nation's largest and most effective minority education organization.
state-of-the-art technology.
What we need is educa
tion reform that promotes
fairness. Fairness equals
equity. As Debby Irving in
her book Waking Up
Race states, “Equality
means giving all students
the exact same thing to
meet the same expecta
tions. Equity means hold
ing people of differing
needs to a single expecta
tion and giving them what
they need to achieve it.” In
other words, the playing
fields need to be leveled.
It's critical that our public
educational system under
takes reform - changes so
that each student is given
what they need to succeed.
Our education system
should support students by
allocating the most
resources to students who
are most in need, just as
track athletes arrange
themselves for fairer com
petition. The national edu
cation law, the Every
Student
Succeeds Act
(ESSA) targets dollars to
the highest poverty schools
and districts.
Under No Child Left
Behind, schools could lose
funding if they failed to nificantly on student test
meet statewide standards.
But under ESSA, states
cannot reduce funding by
more than ten percent from
year to year despite school
performance. ESSA also
attempts to ensure that low-
income' students are not
disproportionally taught by
ineffective, inexperienced,
and/or out-of-field teach
ers.
ESSA requires that
state and district report
cards- include the percent
age of inexperienced teach
ers, principals, and other
school leaders as well as
teachers with emergency lege and career ready,
credentials, and teachers Naomi is currently a mem-
teaching subjects out of ber of the DC Public
their range of expertise. • Charter School Board,
ESSA also seeks to relieve
some teacher angst sur
rounding evaluation sys
tems by ending the require
ment for state teacher eval
uation systems to focus sig-
scores. -
ESSA gives power
back to the states to control
education policy. Now,
members of the community
must hold their school
leaders and elected offi
cials accountable to imple
ment system-wide and
school-specific measures
that ensure equity in our
schools.
Furthermore, UNCF's
2017 community resource,
Lift Every Voice and Lead
Toolkit: A Community
Leader's Advocacy
Resource for K-12
Education, offers step-by-
step analysis of African
American Education and
highlights organizations
that have effectively
engaged in education
efforts at a local level to
support efforts in improv
ing the quality of education
for all students.
Naomi Shelton has
experience in education
related community engage
ment both at the national
and local levels and public
administration. Currently,
she is the Director of K-12
Advocacy at UNCF
(United Negro College
Fund), the nation's largest
and most effective minority
education organization.
There, she focuses on
national education initia
tives and community
engagement efforts to
ensure more African-
American students are col-
appointed by Washington,
D.C- Mayor, Muriel
Bowser. Her passion is
educational equity. Follow
Naomi on Twitter at
@NaomiSheltonDC.
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