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Weekly News Roundup: The End of Hair Discrimination?

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Our team is always seeking the latest news in the field of education. As advocates for a high-quality education for ALL students, we know we have to stay up-to-date on everything that’s going on in the education spheres of our nation…from the White House to the local public school district, from new legislation to the small acts of bravery and kindness made by a single teacher, from the milestones and celebrations to the hazardous injustices affecting many of our nation’s students.

Here are the stories that we’ve been talking about this week.

States and cities are banning hair discrimination. Here’s how that’s affecting schools. via Chalkbeat

A wave of new laws means millions of students have new protections against discrimination if they wear their hair in styles like these. The laws all look to prevent black children and adults from facing negative consequences for how they wear their hair at school and work. And while most are too new to have made an impact yet, advocates hope they will prompt more changes to school dress codes and discipline policies. 

Even in a School With an ‘A’ Rating, Students of Color Are Being Failed via Citizen Education

Around the country, schools that initially impress observers with high overall test scores often lose their luster upon closer examination, when inequities in achievement by race and income become apparent.

Booker T. Washington is a historically Black high school in Tulsa, Oklahoma that became integrated in the early 1970s when it became a magnet school. The decision to integrate by eliminating neighborhood boundaries and drawing students from all over Tulsa ensured Booker T. Washington had to be good enough for White people’s children to attend. This is a hard truth, compounded by the reality that Booker T. Washington’s overall achievement obscures racial disparities.

A push to integrate Queens schools has ripped open a fight about race, resources, and school performance via Chalkbeat

Queens, one of the most diverse counties in the nation, may seem like an unlikely battleground for school integration in 2020. But New York City schools are among the most segregated in the nation — and District 28 is no exception. Spanning the mostly white and affluent neighborhoods of Forest Hills to the north, and the more racially diverse and working-class communities of Richmond Hill and Jamaica to the south, the district is now taking some first steps towards making its middle schools more integrated. 


One thing to read this week

Two States. Eight Textbooks. Two American Stories. via The New York Times

In a country that cannot come to a consensus on fundamental questions — how restricted capitalism should be, whether immigrants are a burden or a boon, to what extent the legacy of slavery continues to shape American life — textbook publishers are caught in the middle. On these questions and others, classroom materials are not only shaded by politics, but are also helping to shape a generation of future voters.


Did any of these articles particularly speak to you? We would love to hear your thoughts! Let us know in the comments below:

January 20, 2020
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The Expectations Project
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