By Micha Green Special to the AFRO
The National Newspapers Publisher’s Association’s 2017 conference began with a call to enrich Black education on June 20 in Washington, D.C.
The National Black Parents Town Hall Meeting on Education, the first event of several that took place during the annual conference, was sponsored by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) and attracted educators and students. Panelists for the town hall included experts in education including, Tia Hill of Fighting For Lives, Chris Stewart of Citizen’s Education, Lynn Jennings from Education Trust and Marietta English of the National Association of Black Educators. These participants shared insights about the current state of Black education, the need for parental involvement, and goals for the future. Elizabeth Primus, program manager for the NNPA and ESSA media campaign, served as the moderator.
Benjamin Chavis, NNPA president, said the association hoped to educate audiences about ESSA, an act signed by President Obama in 2015 that is designed to move some education decision- making to the local level. The bill is scheduled to take effect this September.
There were discussions about the flaws in the approach to education and learning in the Black community, but also anecdotes were shared about the strides and major successes in Black academia. For instance, according to the D.C. Office of the State Superintendent of Education, about 68 percent of Blacks in D.C. public and public charter schools graduated from high school in 2016. About 73 percent graduated from private charter schools in 2016.
Panelists and town hall guests urged the Black press to report more positive stories about strides in education and narratives about achievements in the Black community.
“I’m absolutely delighted that we have a new set of programs coming out to strengthen education starting this fall,” said Richard Campbell, whose children go to school in Howard County, MD. “I’m also very happy that they’re doing listening tours, as they did in Washington, D.C., in all the wards, and that the schools, and the systems, and counties are actually working to listen to parents. Today was a listening session for parents. When you go to those kind of sessions you get the better output, so as a parent, we’re really happy to see that this kind of program is doing this.”
English, of the National Association of Black Educators added, “This is our opportunity to be in there in the planning of how our schools will get resources, what will be the curriculum, how children will our children be involved.”
Markus Batchelor, who at 24 is the youngest D.C. school board member, said “I think broadly, ESSA is a way for educators and policymakers to really get creative in a way they haven’t been able to. I think No Child Left Behind gave us a top-down testing sanction form of education accountability and education policy, and so the fact that the Every Student Succeeds Act is going to really provide that personalized attention to our students and our schools in the community is going to be great, both for the country, but definitely for the children of Ward 8.”