A new report by brightbeam titled “The Secret Shame: How America’s Most Progressive Cities Betray Their Commitment to Educational Opportunity for All,” highlights what will come to many as a surprising conclusion. The achievement gap between white students and their black and Latino peers are significantly higher in progressive cities than in conservative ones.
One of the cities included in the report in Minneapolis. And while often considered a bastion of progressive values, the city has some of the worst outcomes for students of color in the nation.
To address this issue, Civil Rights attorney and activist, Nekima Levy Armstrong, is hosting a provocative education forum entitled: The Crisis in Public Education, taking place tonight (Thursday 01/23) at Brave New Workshop in Minneapolis from 6pm-8pm.
Information from the event states:
Minnesota has some of the worst outcomes for Black children in the nation. We will boldly tackle the underlying causes of these disparities, the role that racism, white supremacy, and low expectations play in fueling failure, and solutions. We will also be discussing a surprising new report from brightbeam, which shines a light on the fact that Black and Brown students in progressive cities have, on average, higher racial gaps in math, reading, and graduation reports than conservative cities.
Our powerful line-up of speakers, activists, and education justice advocates includes: Rashad Turner, Executive Director of Minnesota Parents Union; Chris Stewart, CEO of brightbeam, Helen Bassett, Robbinsdale School Board Member; Leslie Redmond, President of The Minneapolis Chapter of NAACP, JD, MBA; Dr. Lee-Ann Stephens, Educator, MN Teacher of The Year 2006; Dr. Charvez Russell, Executive Director, Friendship Academy; Chauntyll Allen, St. Paul School Board Member; and Titilayo Bediako, Executive Director of We Win Institute.
The event will see the panel of activists and education advocates join parents, students, teachers, social workers and community members in the quest to tackle what is truly a crisis in public education.
A live stream of the event will be available here at 6:00pm(CST).
