#HowILeadForEquity: Share your stories

We get these calls all the time: A superintendent sees the urgent need to address the fact that her district’s students of color are less likely than their white classmates to read at grade level or graduate in four years, but most of her school board members are afraid to name and discuss those inequities, and some community residents are resistant to any change that they believe will result in less access and privilege for their kids. Or, in a rapidly changing school district, the district and school level staff are not representative of the students and families walking through the school doors every day. The superintendent wants to fund staff development and recruitment for diverse staff but with a shrinking budget, it’s hard to convince the school board to provide resources for solutions that are not immediately apparent in classrooms.

Challenges like these represent deeply seated inequities that have been living and breathing in systems for years. The good news is that the number of principals and school system leaders who understand the collective urgency to create more equitable schools is on the rise. They understand, as we do at the NYC Leadership Academy, the critical role that leaders play in doing this work exponentially — not as one-off PD’s but as a growing and unstoppable movement.

Of course, with any movement comes the occasional setback. A few weeks ago, we were served such a setback when the Federal Commission on School Safety proposed to rescind guidelines developed in 2011 to address the extreme disparities, particularly racial disparities, in school discipline practices across the country. The Commission argues that the guidance has led to schools being too lenient on discipline and, in turn, endangering the safety of students and educators. In addition, the Commission proposal says, by focusing on race, the guidelines prioritize one group of students over others.

But the facts are indisputable: Students of color are more likely than their white classmates to be suspended or expelled, often for similar offenses, a disproportionality that is mirrored in our country’s criminal justice system.

As I have written before, you can’t change these disparities without exploring the root of these challenges, and you can’t do that without talking about institutional and structural racism. Taking a colorblind approach to addressing inequities really means you are working while blindfolded. It exacerbates disparities.

On top of that, alternative forms of discipline that make real efforts to support students and avoid pulling them from classrooms are showing some success. A recent study by the RAND research group found that during the first two years of a new restorative justice program, schools in Pittsburgh were able to reduce suspensions overall as well as the significant disparities in suspensions between black and white students and low-income and wealthier students. At the same time, teachers reported real improvements in their schools’ climate. Moreover, a survey of about 150 district leaders from across the country found that nearly half of the districts that have used the guidelines to try to improve discipline practices in their schools have seen some positive results. They have implemented restorative and trauma-sensitive practices, and supported teachers develop the skills to build strong relationships with their students.

While we call for these guidelines to remain on the books, we must continue to push this work forward. Our young people are counting on us. Together, our leadership has the potential to exponentially decrease the number of inequities facing our students.

For those of us already doing equity-focused work, let’s continue to lift and highlight the specifics about what that work looks like, the successes and challenges we are experiencing on the ground, and the impact it is having on our educators, students, and communities. We are with you in this journey and will continue sharing our stories on Twitter, at #HowILeadforEquity. We ask you to do this same. Let’s keep this momentum going.