In a previous post, I detailed the initial steps that the Carrboro and Chapel Hill Police Departments are taking to move toward racial equity in policing. But what about other local government functions?
The Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools Board of Education has been in the news recently because of its decisions about board composition. First, in filling the vacancy left by outgoing school board member Mia Burroughs, the school board selected a wealthy, white man, one of only two white men in a field of 15 applicants, many of whom were well-qualified women and people of color. Then, they selected two white men as chair and vice chair, passing up a woman of color who has served on the board much longer than the selected vice chair.
Orange County commissioner Mark Dorosin argued in a guest column in the Chapel Hill News that, because school board members held no public discussion of their priorities around new member selection and did not deliberate in public before voting on the new member, they eroded public trust and did not back up with evidence their professed commitment to narrowing the racial achievement gap.
The news we have heard out of the school board after these selections suggests an insensitivity to the needs, experiences, and priorities of the most vulnerable students in our school system. As Greg McElveen, former school board member and chair of the Orange County NAACP Education Committee, said in a letter to the school board signed by members of the Community Equity Partners, “When given the opportunity to add greater sensitivity to equity and diversity to the Board, the Board chose instead to use an opaque process to select an individual not well positioned to add new perspectives to help achieve the Board’s expressed priorities, nor representative of the District's diverse student population.”
North Carolina NAACP executive director Michelle Cotton Laws, speaking at a recent school board meeting, charged that the school board cares more about challenging high-achieving students than assisting students who are struggling, many of whom are students of color.
So what can the school board and school administrators do to move toward racial equity in our school system?
Some actions have already been taken. For example, I applaud the steps that Superintendent Dr. Tom Forcella, the school board, and staff are currently taking to end disciplinary disparities. Dr. Forcella acknowledged in his recent Chapel Hill News column that there are significant Black-White and Latino/a-White disparities in office disciplinary referrals and in- and out-of-school suspensions. To combat this, Dr. Forcella, the school board, and staff have implemented Positive Behavior Interventions & Support teams in all schools. Further, Dr Forcella notes: “We are also investigating the merits of a social justice approach to discipline with the help of our Minority Student Achievement Network (MSAN) students and the Superintendent’s Student Advisory Council.” The MSAN is currently helping to re-write the Code of Conduct.
But despite these steps in one area, our school system continues to lag in others. We do not seem, for example, to have made much progress on the achievement gap.
To improve racial equity in our schools, our school board, teachers, and administrators should attend Undoing Racism trainings like our police departments’ staffs are doing. Some school board members, teachers, and administrators have attended this training. I recommend that more do so and those who have attend again. And what about implicit bias training? There are researchers such as Dr. Keith Payne, a professor of psychology at UNC who studies automatic thoughts and feelings with a focus on stereotyping, prejudice, and social attitudes, who can provide guidance on taking steps to root out implicit bias. I attended a thought-provoking training on the topic at UNC this summer. The training made me realize that we ALL suffer from implicit bias, but there are actions we can take to combat it. Following such training, the school board and staff should develop a plan to bring more diversity to leadership positions, including the school board.
Training on racial equity and implicit bias are just some of the necessary measures to address gaps in achievement and disparities in disciplinary action in our schools. Other measures are likely also needed. For example, both the Growth Mindset and Learning-Focused strategies need to be implemented in such a way that they help most the students who are struggling.
What other strategies do you think should be implemented?
