After the unveil of explosive reportswhereU.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, openly considered allowing schools to use federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) funding, to purchase firearms and provide firearm training to educators, members of theLeadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights (TLC) have stepped in with an open letterto the same administrator—in protest.
Comprised of over 200 national organizations working together to promote and protect civil and human rights of all people, the open TLC letter was released on Sep. 17, demanding that “the department immediately publicly clarify, that ESSA funds could not be used for weapons.”
“On behalf of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights… we write to share our significant concern regarding the Department’s reported contemplation of the use of Student Support and Academic Enrichment grants provided to states under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) for purchasing firearms and firearms training for school staff,” the letter stated.
Questioning the department’s intent, the letter further went on to the explore the risks of increased violence that this option could potentially cause.
“The Department’s consideration of this use for the funding is inconsistent with both congressional intent and evidence-based educational practices, working against ESSA’s purpose to ‘provide all children significant opportunity to receive a fair, equitable, and high-quality education, and to close achievement gaps.’ Having more firearms in schools would expose children and school staff to a greater risk of gun violence and make everyone in schools less safe,” the letter continued.
Inher letter to Congress, DeVos stated that she would not take “any action concerning the purchase of firearms or firearms training for school staff,” however, Marc Morial, president of the National Urban League and a member of TLC, reflected that an ‘option’ such as this, should have never even been presented.
“This is whole idea is just lousy and makes no sense,” Morial said. “ESSA money should be used to by books and give disadvantaged youth a chance at better education. African Americans already face large amounts of gun violence outside of school, so to even propose such an idea is an added insult to injury.”
“School should be a safe haven for students and there is not one scant of evidence that shows children are safer around guns. The National Urban League does not want or support this,” Morial continued.
“We simply cannot afford to use federal education dollars that are intended for teaching and learning to pay for weapons that will compromise our schools and communities,” New York Education Commissioner MaryEllen Elia wrote.
In a report done by CNN, Black Americans (particularly males), were shown to be more likely to die and to be involved with gun violence over their White counterparts, a startling statistic that the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund (LDF), an legal organization devoted to fighting for racial justice,fears might spill into the classroom, should states actively pursue such an option.
“We need the department of education to immediately and publicly clarify, that ESSA funds cannot be used for weapons,” Nicole Dooley, a LDF general counsel member said. “The only thing that this option will do is place more students at risk, especially African Americans, who experience implicit bias daily. The purpose of ESSA is to improve educational opportunities, not to create more dangerous practices.”
Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) authorities convened with black publishers from around the country to discuss how to hold states accountable in assuring equity to its most vulnerable students.
During the 190th anniversary of the Black Press, the National Newspapers Publishers Association (NNPA) with the support of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation held a breakfast on Friday, March 24, at the Dupont Circle Hotel in Northwest to strategize against those who threaten to pigeonhole the federal education law.
“We have to continue to press our federal rights,” said Hilary O. Shelton, director of NAACP’s Washington bureau. “The new ESSA law does not have the same robust implementation that we’ve had before. What this means is that we still have to work hard to make sure the plan is right.
“But it’s not right if we’re not pushing the government to make sure they come up with the resources that we need,” he said. “They have more flexibility than ever before to undercut a lot of the gains that we have made even with the last three authorizations.”
Hilary O. Shelton, director of the NAACP’s Washington Bureau, speaks during a March 24 breakfast held by the National Newspapers Publishers Association (NNPA) at the Dupont Circle Hotel in northwest D.C. during the celebration of the 190th anniversary of the Black Press to discuss implementation of the Every Student Succeeds Act. (Roy Lewis/The Washington Informer)
Shelton said the NAACP is deeply worried about new Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos and how “our children” will be affected. He challenged the black and Hispanic publishers in the room to do diligent reporting, bringing the facts to its communities.
“You have to find out what your schools are in putting in their implementation plans before they are submitted to the Department of Education,” Shelton said. “Being able to report what that looks like before the implementation deadline day on April 3 is key.
“See exactly what officials in your local area have in store for our students,” he said. “I’d like to encourage you to monitor all that goes on along those lines. We’ve seen the tricks that get played throughout the country. We would like your stories to show what’s going on, on the ground so we can know what fight we have here in Washington, D.C.”
Susie Saavedra, senior director for policy and legislative affairs for the National Urban League’s Washington bureau, stressed how important ESSA is to communities of color.
“Education for the Urban League is the key to economic power and self sufficiency,” she said. “During the past few years we’ve been very engaged in education advocacy work through the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.
“You might wonder what role do civil rights organizations play in this space, but for the Urban League it’s the heart of our mission,” Saavedra said. “We serve communities that are underserved in today’s public school system. The demographics have shifted as we know — the majority is kids of color and kids that live in poverty.”
Kristen Amundson, president and CEO of the National State Board of Education, said that when President Lyndon B. Johnson first signed the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, the goal had been to promote equity and equality.
“Now we have the passage of ESSA and a great deal of that power and authority is coming back to states,” Amundson said. “When I tell you that it is states that is going to have to be protectors of equity and equality I understand that is a big ask.
“The part about the legislation that is going to be so essential is the stakeholder engagement,” she said. “It spells out groups that needs to be involved in the implementation of states plans including State Boards of Education members and civil rights organizations.”
Amundson said that states are, more or less, doing that, though some of them have done better than others.
“Now next month states are going to file their plans,” she said. “The real question is going to become is the stakeholder engagement one and done, or is this going to become a set way states do business. My argument is [that] it has to become engrained in everything you do. If parents, teachers and civil rights organizations are at the table, they will hold schools accountable.”
Amundson said a simple way for anyone with a vested interest to engage lawmakers is to demand a seat at the table.
“This is not the prom — don’t wait to be asked,” she said.
