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Posts tagged as “equity”

House adopts bill by Rep. Marcia Fudge to fight school segregation

September 17, 2020

Cleveland.com |

The U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday adopted legislation by U.S. Rep. Marcia Fudge (11th District Ohio) that would establish a federal grant program to promote racial and socioeconomic diversity in public schools.

The bill passed by a 248 to 167 vote, with support from all of Ohio’s Democrats along with Republicans Anthony Gonzalez of Rocky River, Dave Joyce of Bainbridge Township and Steve Stivers of Columbus.

Even though racial segregation in public schools has been illegal in the United States for more than 66 years, Fudge said the nation’s public schools are more segregated today than at any time since the 1960s. She said the average African American or Latino student attends school with a majority of children of their own race, most of whom are low-income students forced to learn in dilapidated buildings with fewer resources.

House adopts bill by Rep. Marcia Fudge to fight school segregation
The bill would authorize federal grants for school efforts to increase racial diversity and socioeconomic diversity.

Xavier: Gender and Diversity Studies (GDST) department enlivened by new faculty

September 11, 2020

The Xavier Newswire |

  • Dr. ShaDawn Battle is teaching First-year Seminar State-Sanctioned Violence in the U.S., and Gender and Diversity Studies and Social Justice.
  • Dr. Kayla Renée Wheeler is teaching First-year Seminar: Race in the Digital Age and GDST 210: Introduction to African American Studies. 
  • Dr. Mich Nyawalo is teaching First Year Seminar: Infectious Diseases and the Culture Politics of Race, Class, Gender, and Sexuality and GDST 310: Theoretical Perspectives.
GDST enlivened by new faculty
Budding department welcomes three professors, debuts six classes.

Can we fix the inequities exacerbated by remote learning?

August 31, 2020

PBS News |

Wayne Lewis, Kentucky Education Commissioner and Dean of Education at Belmont University in Nashville talks about what lessons were learned from remote-learning in the spring and how we move forward.

“Broadband access and access to digital tools and digital resources is not a luxury. It’s an absolute necessity. And when we think about kids not having access to those things, we should think about it very similar to the way we would think if kids didn’t have access to electricity. …There’s no way in the 21st-century environment as we’re preparing for a 21st-century workforce for these kids, that they can have the type of education that they need and that they deserve unless we can ensure that every child has access to those resources.”

Can we fix the inequities exacerbated by remote learning?
Watch the interview at PBS News Hour

Keeping a Focus on Equity as Schools Reopen During the Pandemic

August 31, 2020

Wallace Foundation |

Hal Smith, senior vice president of education, youth development & health at the National Urban League, talks about how districts and state departments of education can address inequities as they move into a new school year and face the unprecedented challenge of educating students while keeping schools safe during a pandemic.

He sees pitfalls and educational opportunities—including more student-led inquiry as the new year begins.

Keeping a Focus on Equity as Schools Reopen During the Pandemic
The Urban League’s Hal Smith sees pitfalls and, yes, educational opportunities—including more student-led inquiry

ACOVSD: Lack of high-speed internet impacting remote learning in rural counties

August 27, 2020

WKRC |

“When we talk about internet, in many places throughout the county, it just doesn’t exist,” said Superintendent Rich Seas.

Seas said there are areas in Blue Creek that do not have internet service. There are also areas of the community in which radios in school buses do not work. Making hot spots available doesn’t help with the issue because they do not work in some areas.

Javier Mendoza, a spokesperson for internet provider, Frontier, told Local 12 Wednesday that the infrastructure in some neighborhoods allows for DSL internet service, which is slower than broadband. Satellite internet is available, but there are caps on the data that would make remote learning impossible.

Lack of high-speed internet impacting remote learning in rural counties
BLUE CREEK, Ohio (WKRC) – Students at the Adams County Ohio Valley School District have returned to class five days a week, but for parents who wanted to enroll their children in remote learning, slow or no internet service made that option impossible.

Ohio Ranks 9th Worst State in America for Women’s Equality, According to Study

August 26, 2020

CityBeat and WalletHub |

Ohio, ranked No. 42 out of 50, making it the ninth worst state in America in terms of gender equality. Ohio excelled in having one of the top smallest educational attainment gaps among advanced degree holders; however, it was among the bottom rung for having the largest political representation gap in the nation.

Ohio Ranks 9th Worst State in America for Women’s Equality, According to Study
Read the full article at CityBeat

The study looked at 17 metrics in these categories: Workplace Environment, Education & Health and Political Empowerment. Those metrics included income disparity, disparity in advanced educational attainment, disparity in share of lawmakers in U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, disparity in share of executive positions and more. 

2020’s Best & Worst States for Women’s Equality
See the full study at the WalletHub

As Hewlett-Packard Can’t Deliver Computers on Time, Cleveland School District Sent Scrambling to Find 9,000 New Laptops in Two Weeks

August 25, 2020

The 74 Million |

The district canceled the $4.7 million order last week after Hewlett-Packard warned that it could not provide laptops until October, which would have left thousands of the district’s students challenged to access their classes for at least a month. The exact number of students who could be left without any computers and how many will have to use old ones or share devices with family members are still unclear.

As Hewlett-Packard Can’t Deliver Computers on Time, Cleveland School District Sent Scrambling to Find 9,000 New Laptops in Two Weeks
Read more at The 74 Million

Ohio’s rural schools face unknown with in-person classes amid COVID

August 25, 2020

Columbus Dispatch |

The largely rural Belmont County and Tuscarawas County plan to start the school year with in-person classes.

Coordinated by each district in partnership with local public health departments, the decision to start in-person or remote learning is being determined by community survey data and access to broadband resources, according to the East Central Ohio Educational Service Center (ESC).

Ohio’s rural schools face unknown with in-person classes amid COVID
Read more at the Columbus Dispatch

Randy Lucas, the superintendent of the East Central Ohio ESC, said the 22 school districts in his counties are adhering to a colored, tiered system that the service center developed. Green equals in-person, yellow means hybrid and red is fully remote.

“The No. 1 problem is broadband,” Lucas said. “It’s very difficult to hold students and family accountable for the work if you can’t guarantee they have access to the internet.”