New Initiatives for Integrated Education in the Obama Era: Reversing Two Decades of Resegregation

What: The Civil Rights Project/Proyecto Derechos Civiles at UCLA, Center for Civil Rights at UNC School of Law, University of Georgia Education Policy and Evaluation Center, and the Forum for Education and Democracy are convening a briefing on Capitol Hill at 10 a.m., Friday, June 12, to address the profound inequities found in segregated schools and to focus on the immediate and long-term policy options for promoting racially integrated public schools across the nation.

The briefing, which will be moderated by Gary Orfield of the Civil Rights Project, draws on the expertise of nationally-acclaimed social scientists and lawyers. The event will be co-hosted by Representative Chaka Fattah of the 2nd District of Pennsylvania, whose efforts to promote a Student Bill of Rights and convene an Opportunity to Learn Commission address many of the inequities in our nation’s schools. Francisco Negrón of the National School Boards Association and Pedro Noguera of the Forum for Education and Democracy and New York University will respond to presentations by panelists.

New research on programs that promote racially integrated education and strategies about achieving equity in schools will be presented and discussed. The following papers will be included

School Racial Composition and Young Children’s Cognitive Development: Isolating Family, Neighborhood and School Influences, Douglas D. Ready and Megan R. Silander, Teachers College, Columbia University;

Is Class Working? An Update on Socioeconomic Student Assignment Plans in Wake County, NC and Cambridge, MA, Genevieve Siegel-Hawley, University of California-Los Angeles

    * Using Regional Coalitions to Address Socioeconomic Isolation: The Creation of the Nebraska Learning Community Agreement, Jennifer Jellison Holme, Sarah Diem and Katherine Cumings Mansfield, University of Texas at Austin;
    * Federal Legislation to Promote Metropolitan Approaches to Educational and Housing Opportunities, Elizabeth DeBray-Pelot, University of Georgia, and Erica Frankenberg, University of California at Los Angeles; and,
    * Racially Integrated Education and the Role of the Federal Government, Chinh Q. Le, Seton Hall University.

 
When: 
Policy Briefing, Friday, June 12, 10:00 a.m. EST
 
Where: 
2103 Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill, Washington D.C.

Who:     
Gary Orfield, Professor of Education, Law, Political Science and Urban Planning, UCLA, and Co-Director, Civil Rights Project/Proyecto Derechos Civiles
Francisco Negrón, Associate Executive Director and General Counsel, National School Boards Association
Pedro Noguera, Professor, Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development at New York University, and Convener, Forum for Education and Democracy; contact Susan Oliver at (703) 216-4078 or susan.b.oliver@verizon.net
Representative Chaka Fattah, 2nd District of Pennsylvania; contact Debra Anderson at (202) 225-5402;Debra.anderson@mail.house.gov

Paper Authors:

Douglas D. Ready, Teachers College, Columbia University
Genevieve Siegel-Hawley, University of California-Los Angeles
Jennifer Jellison Holme, University of Texas at Austin
Elizabeth DeBray-Pelot, University of Georgia
Chinh Q. Le, Seton Hall University

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