Books by Joyce E. King

Black Education / Preparing Teachers for Cultural Diversity / Teaching Diverse Populations

 Black Mothers to Sons: Juxtaposing African American Literature with Social Practice.

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An Open Letter to President Barack Obama

and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan

 From Educators of African Ancestry

February 9, 2009

Dear President Barack Obama and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan,

Educators of African Ancestry is a nationwide group of educators in the public and private education sectors representing the full spectrum of pedagogy, curriculum, assessment, teacher preparation, and administration.

We have come together to promote a National Education Agenda with specific emphasis upon the advancement of academic and cultural excellence for people of African ancestry. Because we understand the inextricable connections between the best interests of our nation, revitalizing our urban communities and the educational futures of African Americans, we believe this policy agenda will benefit the entire society. We recognize the state of emergency of our national education system and strongly urge that you take these recommendations into immediate consideration to help stem this crisis so that our nation as a whole can progress in all areas of social, political and economic development.

To address this crisis, it is our contention that our nation needs a new National Education Policy that views Education as a Human Right. A major goal is to include affirmative cultural and heritage knowledge of all youth and families—rather than the current curricula that may include diverse others, but remains centered on the experiences of Europeans and Euro-Americans.

“The human right to education guarantees every child access to quality schools and services without discrimination, including quality teachers and curricula, and safe and welcoming school environments that respect human dignity. Education must be aimed at each child to participate in society and do work that is rewarding.” From The National Economic and Social Rights Initiative (NESRI) <nesri.org>

Mr. President and Secretary Duncan, below we offer ten fundamental policy recommendations to make real the promises of a truly egalitarian national education system for academic and cultural excellence and civic responsibility. These policy recommendations serve as a starting point, a basis, a foundation—not an exhaustive list of ideas, nor all that should encompass a national education system.

For the well being of the entire nation, but also in the particular interest of students of African ancestry and other underserved students of color, we call upon you, President Obama and Secretary Duncan, to introduce an Education Rights Act whose purpose shall be to repeal and replace the NCLB legislation with a national policy that views Education as a Human Right and therefore, includes funding for the respective states in these policy areas:

1. Curriculum Development, Research & Evaluation: To revise curriculum locally and to evaluate revised anti-racist curriculum materials to assure truthfulness regarding the crime of slavery and post-slavery in America, and to engage in research to evaluate the relationship among anti-racist curriculum, pedagogy and student achievement.

2. Teacher Training/Methodology and Leadership Training: To prepare teachers at undergraduate and post-graduate levels to teach the revised curriculum; to help educators understand their own biases toward students of African ancestry and other underserved students of color and the effects of those biases on student achievement.

3. Green Schools for All: To provide for the building of new and the repair of old schools in urban, suburban and rural areas that will become “State-of-the-Art” Green schools fully equipped with technology and meaningful curricula to prepare all students for productive work, healthy living and civic responsibility as global citizens. This includes pre-K through high school students, English Language Learners and speakers of African-American English (a home language, which in the classroom may not be considered Standard American English).

4. Charter schools: To enact a mandate from the US Department of Education to ensure that Charter schools serve as laboratories for innovation and systematically share methodological and other successes that do not drain resources from or contribute to the demise of local public schools.

5. Police in Schools: To enact a mandate from the US Dept. of Education that immediately removes the presence and authority of the local police department-directly or indirectly-as security agents in public school buildings. Fully fund and coordinate a national program to assist students, educators and parents in creating local school safety policies and practices that more humanely address the social/emotional and safety issues that arise in schools.

6. Military Presence in Our Schools: To remove all military presence on school grounds and eliminate the solicitation of new recruits on school grounds. Military recruiters target poor communities creating an “economic draft.”

7. Parent and Student Unions for Community-Based Decision Making: To support parent and student responsibility in the education process, enact a mandate from the US Department of Education to develop parent and student organizations and to require the participation of parent, student and community-selected education advocates in all decision-making aspects of K-12 education processes.

8. Adult Education Programs: To provide adult education programs that address the educational needs of out-of-school youth, adults, incarcerated and formerly incarcerated individuals, and to prepare our workforce for democratic participation in the economy, including the new technological and environmental challenges we currently face and will face.

9. Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs): To strengthen and preserve HBCUs as they continue to have higher retention and graduation rates for students of African ancestry.

10. Office of Educational Equity: To establish the Office of Educational Equity to implement and monitor, conduct research and evaluate the above recommendations. Educators of African Ancestry have the recognized curriculum, models and requisite resources to assist in the creation of a new national education system.We are a highly knowledgeable and experienced group of people who are ready right now to assist!

Our children are not the problem; we are the solution!

Feel free to circulate it. Feel free to sign onto the letter. Feel free to visit the National Black Education Agenda's website: www.blackeducationnow.org   

In the next couple of weeks, look for periodic updates of the Open Letter with additional names. All signatories should email their info to blackeducator@africamail.com

In Struggle, Sam Anderson

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BLACK CLASSIC BOOKS   BCP Digital Printing

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posted 9 February 2009