The American Dream Starts With A, B, C

Dear Leading Ladies,

While we are optimistic that a new Secretary of Education under President-Elect Joe Biden’s administration will understand more profoundly and care more deeply about the needs of children in this country, we understand that the dispersal of funds and resources for schools is primarily decided at the local and state level. That means that whether one town or city receives more than another per child will not be legislated at the national level; it will be decided much closer to home.

Just a year ago, the Student Opportunity Act was passed into effect in Massachusetts. It received much fanfare and was hailed as a great playing field leveler. The American Federation of Teachers wrote that the act increases state aid to local school districts by $1.4 billion per year—above inflation—over a seven-year phase-in period; addresses more resources for educating students with disabilities, English learners and students from low-income families; as well as funds charter tuition reimbursements and increases the annual spending cap for Massachusetts School Building Authority projects.

In fact, the bill called for determining the money needed to educate a student and then each city’s and town’s ability to provide that money from local real estate taxes. The state committed to provide the shortfall, ostensibly equalizing access to quality education for all children in the state.

The further good news was that there was some recognition in Chapter 70 that the needs of children in economically depressed areas may require more state funding per student than those in neighborhoods of privilege. 

So what’s the problem? 

Many would argue that the calculations did not go far enough. As Jack Schneider, a professor at UMass Lowell wrote in The Atlantic, “generations of inequality have constrained opportunities for people in marginalized communities, often most forcefully through racially isolated neighborhoods with vastly uneven access to mainstream social, political, and economic life. Given this context, producing equal educational outcomes would seemingly require more than equal funding. It would require addressing the specific historical injustices that affect student learning—paying down what the scholar Gloria Ladson-Billings has called the ‘education debt’.” So, good for Massachusetts for recognizing this, but have the calculations gone far enough to meet the needs?

Adding to the inequity is that immigrant children, those with disabilities, and those for whom English is a second language are often undercounted, thereby leading to underfunding for their school districts which are often in poor areas. Part of this problem originated in a change in nomenclature. Those who were once called poor became economically disadvantaged, then low income, and the criteria for determining who qualified for various services altered along with the designations. https://www.wbur.org/edify/2019/08/01/low-income-count

But most importantly, the state doesn’t prevent cities or towns from using additional funds through fundraising, donations, or other municipal monies to provide major enhanced learning opportunities. Therefore, for example, a wealthy town like Newton accepts only the minimum from the state, since their high property taxes can pay the amount per student the state determined is needed. Then, the town spends an additional 50% more per student - because it can. Read more here.

So, it’s complicated. Or maybe it isn’t. It may no longer be that the taxes in affluent neighborhoods are the culprits causing unequal access to quality education for our youth.  But it’s still money and the lack of it. The rich kids are getting lots of money in their schools, and the poor kids aren’t. It’s that simple.

What does money buy? New books, small classes, computers for every child, good Wi-Fi, before and after school programs, summer programs, universal preschool, parent education programs, teacher development. And on and on. And as Ladson-Billings said, education for children in families where education has been sub-par for generations needs to be not just good, but exceptional and reparative.

What can we do? 

Learn more about the reality of unequal access to quality education. Look into whether your town or city will pool extra funds raised in a wealthier school area and share them with schools in lesser resourced areas. If so, lobby for that in your community. Also, write to Governor Baker, Senators Markey and Warren, and your state senators. Tell them what you know and believe. Chapter 70 is a start, but it is far from leveling the playing field. School children in Roxbury, Lynn, Chelsea, Lawrence and other communities with hardworking residents who would like a piece of the American Dream deserve and need a lot more than they are getting.

Stay safe, be well. There is hope!

Therese
Judy
Mary
Kim
Leading Ladies Executive Team
LeadingLadiesVote.Org