Wiley College President Herman Felton (UNCF photo)
Tuesday, April 9, Herman Felton, Ph.D., president and CEO of Wiley College in Marshall, Texas, provided testimony before the House panel that decides the funding levels for all federal education programs. The House Appropriations Committee’s Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Subcommittee received public witness testimony from only 24 individuals to inform their crafting of the upcoming bill to fund the government for fiscal year 2020. The remarks provided by Dr. Felton focused on the funding and national benefits of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).
A Marine Corps veteran and lifelong educator, Dr. Felton’s testimony was the first of the afternoon to receive bi-partisan support from both Subcommittee Chairwoman Rosa L. DeLauro (D-CT) and Ranking Member Tom J. Cole (R-OK). The funding leaders commended Wiley College (a UNCF-member institution) and similar HBCUs, for their work with first-generation college students, specifically for being an integral part of the American higher education fabric for decades. Chairwoman DeLauro added, concerning the $39 billion National Institutes of Health (NIH), “We will be sure that the center of our discussion and debate will be that we strengthen HBCUs.” Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) who introduced Dr. Felton to the Subcommittee prior to his testimony, noted that funding recommendations in Dr. Felton’s testimony “just make sense.”
UNCF (United Negro College Fund) worked with Congress to garner the opportunity for HBCUs to be represented in today’s proceedings. Dr. Felton echoed the priorities laid out by UNCF’s president and CEO Dr. Michael L. Lomax during the organization’s inaugural “State of the HBCUs Address” on March 5, including:
Increase funding for the discretionary “Strengthening HBCUs” Program to $375 million ($93 million increase over FY 2019);
Reauthorize the mandatory “Strengthening HBCUs” Program this year;
Fund the HBCU Capital Finance Program, including support for the deferment authority;
Double the Pell Grant award and support Second Chance Pell; and
Support funding to produce more African American health professionals and researchers, including at NIH.
“What we witnessed today was history,” commented Lodriguez V. Murray, UNCF’s vice president for public policy and government affairs. “One of our HBCU member presidents delivered remarks about the needs of all HBCUs and their students, weaving in the history of Wiley College. The goals are clear: increase resources necessary for the Pell-eligible and first-generation college students who have found an HBCU education to be a necessity; and allot the funding necessary for HBCUs to continue to remain competitive and thrive.”
Murray concluded, “The reception Dr. Felton received at the hearing showed, once again, that when we take a positive proactive agenda to Capitol Hill, bipartisanship is the response.”
Today, more than ever before, parents, educators and stakeholders around the country are learning about the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) and the opportunities it presents for school districts to innovate learning in their classrooms and to address academic achievement gaps—through the pages and websites of the Black Press.
“It’s critical for [Black] parents to be involved and the Black Press is strategically embedded in our communities, so that we have more opportunities to get the word out about ESSA,” said Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr., the president and CEO of the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA). “The NNPA is pleased to partner with and applauds the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for working to raise public awareness throughout the United States about equity in education.”
Chavis continued: “Bridging the academic gap in education, in particular for African American students and others from disadvantaged communities, is of critical importance.”
Dr. Elizabeth V. Primas, the project manager for the NNPA ESSA awareness campaign and a life-long educator, said that ESSA was established to help increase the effectiveness of public education in every state.
ESSA, which reauthorizes the Elementary and Secondary School Act (ESEA) and replaces the No Child Left Behind Act, received bipartisan support and was signed into law by President Obama on December 10, 2015.
Under ESSA, states have more flexibility to craft elementary and secondary education programs designed to improve educational outcomes in the nation’s public schools. The law also ensures that every child, regardless of race, income, background, or where they live, has the opportunity to obtain a high-quality education.
“Education is the pathway out of poverty,” Primas said.
Since receiving the Gates Foundation grant, the NNPA has engaged its 211-member publications in more than 60 markets across the country in a campaign designed to heighten public awareness about ESSA, and to focus on efforts and policies aimed at closing the achievement gaps for students of color and low-income students.
Due to the importance of education in the Black community, NNPA members have paid particular attention on the NNPA ESSA awareness campaign; three NNPA members were rewarded for that engagement at the Mid-Winter Conference for their relentless reporting on ESSA.
“I do believe that the last chance anybody has to hold anybody down is education,” said Bobby Henry, the publisher of the Westside Gazette in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, who was one of those publishers that received an award for his engagement with the awareness campaign. “The state of Florida is not doing too well in educating our children, so I thought it was out of duty and respect that we do our due diligence to bring awareness to our readers.”
Henry added that the ESSA law and reporting on it helps to hold school districts accountable and he said that it’s also important that more teachers of color are recruited and hired.
Brandon Brooks, the managing editor of the Los Angeles Sentinel, said that education is the key to helping to end poverty in the Black community and all NNPA members are a testament to that.
Danny Bakewell, the publisher of the Los Angeles Sentinel was also rewarded for his newspaper’s engagement with the NNPA ESSA awareness campaign, and Brooks accepted the reward on behalf of the Sentinel.
For numerous reasons, Brooks said he didn’t hesitate to run articles about ESSA and educational equality in the Los Angeles Sentinel—in print and online.
“The content [produced by NNPA Newswire] was there and it was rich and educational and informative. Running the articles has never been too much of a directive, especially when I got the green light,” Brooks said.
Brooks continued: “The goal of the Black Press has always been to advocate for justice for Black people. ESSA is a campaign for social justice and equality in education. It’s our duty to reach out to our students, our kids and to make sure that they have the information to succeed. If I didn’t do that, I wouldn’t be doing my job.
Freddie Allen, the Editor-In-Chief of the NNPA Newswire, called NNPA publishers “MVPs” of the NNPA team for their work in publishing stories about ESSA.
“Education is a civil rights issue and we must be engaged,” said Allen. “Imagine the Civil Rights Movement without the Black Press. Where would we be today? So, imagine the future of education without the Black Press. That’s why we have to get involved and stay involved with this issue.”
